The Ultimate Warrior
by long night of solace
Summary: Humanity is an impressive inter-galactic empire at tier-0 level. When John-117, their military commander engages an unknown enemy, he and Cortana in a fortress ship, Labyrinth of Chaos were displaced into an alternate universe with things beyond imagination. He needs to team up with the Marvel heroes to solve a mystery that might threaten the whole universe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello guys...This is Long night of solace. This is my third story which is a Marvel and Halo crossover. Before getting into the story, I would like to state a few things.**

 **This story will follow a grounded style similar to Marvel Cinematic Universe. The marvel characters in the entire database won't be crowded here, which is not my scope. There will be characters and factions that will be necessary for the progressing story.**

 **Master Chief will be the only character from Haloverse. Still for the logical information to maintain a continuity, the 1st chapter will serve as the general info about the haloverse, pretty much everything that happened from 2557 AD after Master chief defeated the Didact. The Haloverse human technology is advanced but not to the mythical or fantasy levels. But enough to keep up with the Marvel universe.**

 **Finally, don't expect me to give frequent updates as I got to update 3 stories while also keeping up with my office job for 5 days. It means I only get time to write on remaining 2 holidays.**

 **Last but not least, I hope you will enjoy this!...**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or Marvel franchise.**

 **Prologue:** **Humanity**

 **Timeline: 62557 AD.**

 **Humanity had advanced and evolved both biologically and technologically far exceeding the Forerunners in just 60,000 years after 2557 AD.**

 **Out of trillions of galaxies in the universe, Humans have formed an impressive inter galactic empire that spans 50 galaxies in total with 20 in the Inner group and the remaining 30 outside in the Virgo super cluster. Their sphere of influence now span a radius of 120 million light years. Humanity's evolution since 2557 AD had always been on their own path without the influence from other races or species. They developed their own technologies without the need for reverse engineering alien artifacts.**

 **1)** _ **Human Colonies:**_

 **In the Milky way galaxy, humans have completely, thoroughly colonized 343,650 worlds. In the remaining 49 galaxies they have successfully colonized 1.3 million worlds each to a grand total of 64 million fertile worlds.**

 **Capital worlds** **: Earth, Reach and Charum Hakkor becomes humanity's capital trinity that represents their empire.**

 **Population** **: Humanity's population with the extensive help of genetic engineering took their numbers to a humongous 57,600 trillion with an average of 900 million in each world.**

 **65% of the occupied worlds are atleast 1.4 times the size of Earth.**

 **Humanity was able colonize other galaxies because of their discovery of large magallenic cloud and the abundant resources available there. That discovery alone helped humanity to make millennia of technological and economic leap in just few decades. Enormous resources at disposal made humans to believe that unconventional technologies are possible there after. Many private industrialists volunteered to help in building vessels and equipments, weapons and powered armors on a massive scale.**

 **Also with the discovery of inter galactic jump gates constructed by Precursors helped humans to easily travel between galaxies. These mysterious jump gates use neural physics based FTL transit.**

 **2)** _ **Human Technology:**_

 _ **i)**_ _ **Weapons**_ _ **:**_

 _ **All the human weapons appear deep black in color with rich elegant contour profiles and body design. Human weapons are almost directed energy weaponery.**_

 **Pulse fusion rifle** **: A DE assault rifle that has a cross blended design of MA5D and ARC-920 rail gun. It uses cooled lithium ions as ammo stored in a glass canisters of 6mm diameter and 7cm long as magazine. A 430MW promethium nuclear fission cell powers a solid state laser of 2kilojoules. The lithium ions are released from the canisters in controlled manner. These ions are irradiated by the laser which immediately pools very high energy to trigger fusion reaction of lithium ions to create micro stellar rounds of high energy density. Then the rounds are immediately accelerated between parallel rails which magnetizes and confines the rounds and released at very high velocity by the action of lorentz force. The stellar rounds are bluish white in color and releases lightning arc filaments around itself of 5 cm length due to the frictional contact with the atmosphere.**

 **Each canister can be used to fire 280 automatic rounds in total at a speed of 12 rounds per second. Each fusion rounds consume 5 lithium ions. The fusion cross section is very low such that the fusion probability is 95%.**

 **Ion particle rifle:** **A magnetohydrodynamic assault rifle with a highly sophisticated design. It uses dense rhenium metal rod which is ablated to super excited vapor state where the rhenium atoms are suspended in a pool of electron-photon plasma, compressed and confined by it's own magnetic field. This magnetohydrodynamic state is created continuously, but are accelarated through annular lorentz accelarator into alternative rounds at a speed of 12 rounds per second. Each rhenium bar is kept inside a wrapped up case that has to be loaded each and every time in to the gun.**

 **This rifle is a 300 automatic rounds weapon. This weapon is also powered by the same promethium nuclear fission cell.**

 **GM-X pistol** **: A highly advanced guass pistol. It shoots out dense Carbon Nano Tube reinforced tungsten bullets at supersonic speeds by magnetic field. The gun is powered by mini hydrogen fuel cell with a current amplifier. Capable of piercing even dense armor and draining energy shields. In general, this pistol is a deadly weapon when dual weilded.**

 **Humans found this weapon highly efficient and is always a weapon of choice in general.**

 **Talon launchers** **: Humans have eliminated chemical explosives and replaced them with powerful non-chemical ones. Talon launchers are hand held rocket launchers that use intelligent guidance systems. The missile consists of a micro nuclear fusion warhead that explodes within 4m radius releasing very high energy fusion plasma capable of virtually incinerating anything down to molecular levels. These missiles are ion propelled.**

 **Plasma shotgun** **: A highly modified variant of M90 shotgun. It uses dense polymers that are ablated by electric arcs to plasma states and are launched in 5 seperate micro annular magnetic ducts encased within a single outer cylindrical shell. When shot, the plasma from the ducts splashes out of the gun at very high speed covering a range of 20 metres.**

 **AMX-100 Sniper rifle** **: An ultra powerful long range recoil-less weapon used by snipers. It uses** _ **zero point silicon condensate**_ **which is a super dense molecular crystal in near absolute zero temperature. The magazine is specially designed to be a completely sealed cryo chamber which maintains this temperature. The unique property of this silicon crystal is that even after being shot and comes into contact with the atmosphere, there will be no heat trasnsfer with the crystal that will instantly vaporize the rounds. This is because of the extremely powerful cooper pairs formed between silicon atoms combined with the peculiar distribution of Vanderwaal's forces.**

 **This super dense silicon condensate bullet is manufactured by compressing silicon atoms with in a mould(Bullet shaped mould) to ultra high pressure and cryogenically cooled to form molecular silicon crystal bullet. It is accelerated by super conducting magnetic fields at a velocity of 15,000 metres per second with an effective range of 30 kms. This round can shatter dense surfaces, hard light surface and penetrate energy shields and kill the target in a single shot.**

 **Adamantine hammer** **: Named after greek god Hercules's weapon. Human weapons scientists after conducting effective researches in creating melee weapons, they ended up with this hammer. This weapon has quite a resemblance to Jiralhanae hammer. Adamantine is the only weapon powered by vacuum energy. The hammer head consists of a vacuum energy siphon that draws the quantum energy from the universe and channeled through the head to desired effects. The energy can be channeled and stomped on the ground to create energy tremors. Or the energy can be charged and shot as linear energy streams upon a target. Anyway, both creates devastating effects. This hammer is specially given to spartan super soldiers.**

 _ **ii)**_ _ **Ground military vehicles**_ _ **:**_

 **Mammoth** **: These are huge mobile artillery platform vehicles that carry at least 30 military personnel inside. It is equipped with dual heavy plasma mortars at the rear top, 2 heavy pulse laser guns at the front, Archer missile batteries at both the sides. These missiles use mixtured nitroglycerine-nitrotoluene explosive warheads. The vehicle is protected by human energy shielding. Three mammoths are powerful enough infact to severely damage a frigate. It is powered by Nitrogen plasmadynamic core. Also it uses artificial-gravity levitation for mobility.**

 **Sabres** **: These are light reconnaisance vehicles that usually carry 3 personnel - 1 driver, 1 side seater and 1 gunner. They use super conducting magnetic levitation for mobility. It is mounted with a plasma chain gun. Sabres are powered by nuclear fission packs. Sabers too are protected by energy shields though not as powerful as the Mammoth's.**

 _ **iii)**_ _ **Planetary defense systems**_ _ **:**_

 **Orbital defense stations** **: Humanity having mastered the previously used MAC technology, they decided to take it further by using particle beam weapons.**

 **These stations are huge geo-sync platforms whose only primary weapon system is a particle beam super cannon that fires stream of super high energy Z-Bosons that instantly break into particle-antiparticle pairs at relativistic speeds with energy levels of 500 TeV. A single super cannon can effectively take down a covenant assault carrier with shielding in a single shot at half a power level. But the recharge time for these cannons are 20 seconds to full power.**

 **Each colony world is protected by stations placed at the strategically most important points around the planet.**

 **Ground side defense cannons** **: These are large, anti-aircraft energy beam projectors present at the planet's ground side. These weapons provide protection from invading enemy spacecrafts into the atmosphere.**

 **Argus** **: These are automated flying robotic drones that use high power coherent ultraviolet laser beam as their weapon and are protected by bubble shields. These drones are similar in size to the forerunner super sentinels. Their purpose ranges from guarding a facility to an entire city. Scientists have developed a sophisticated system embedded into it to help each argus drone share real time monitoring resources among themselves for automated co-ordination.**

 _ **iv)**_ _ **A erial support and defense**_ _ **: **_

**Longsword fighters** **: Human scientists have completely redesigned and re-engineered the GA-TL1 longsword to be used as both air and space craft at hypersonic velocities. It is propelled by twin deutron plasma propulsion that expels extremely repulsive high energy thermal deutrium ions to create thrust force. For vertical take off and landing, it uses super conducting magnetic levitation against the planetary magnetic field.**

 **It is equipped with homing missiles that carry proton micro fusion warhead and dual pulse laser turrets. The fighter craft is protected by energy shielding.**

 **Broadsword fighters** **: Completely redesigned and re-engineered F-41 broadsword fightercrafts to be used as both air and spacecraft at hypersonic velocities. It uses the same twin deutron plasma propulsion and super conducting magnetic levitation. One unique feature is, at the bottom of the craft is a gravitational tractor beam generator for lifting and carrying sensitive payloads.**

 **It is equipped with same homing missiles of proton micro fusion warheads, dual pulse laser turrets and EMP mine launchers. They too possess energy shielding.**

 **Griffin fighters** **: These are purely space fighter crafts and the most deadliest ones. They are propelled by twin repulsor engines using one Helium-3 fusion reactor. Also this is the only craft to possess slipspace drive for short interstellar jumps of 5 lightyears at a time.**

 **It is equipped with seeker missile launchers. Seeker missile is an ion propelled missile whose warhead consists of 10 micro plasma explosives, each attacking indivdual targets. A single micro explosive is capable of destroying a sabre vehicle. Apart from that, it has a dual magneto hydrodynamic pulse cannons that shoots high energy stream of metallic ions. Every Griffin fighter carries one fusion bomb that when launched can cause a significant damage to a fleet.**

 **Pelican dropships** **: Current Pelican dropships are of more elegant design and sophistication. Each dropship can carry 30 armed personnel. The dropships possess energy shielding and are propelled by fusion plasma drives. Each dropship possess a single plasma turret on the offense.**

 _ **v)**_ _ **Naval Assets**_ _ **:**_

 _ **All ships hull appear deep blue-black in color with 50% reflectivity. It also does not carry insignia and ship name painted in the hull.**_

 **Phantom class stealth vessels** **: These are redesigned and re-engineered prowlers. They are 410 metres long, 99 metres wide and 40 meters height. They use nano-crystalline refractive coating that cloaks the entire ship by warping the sensible light around it. This is superior to every camouflage technology available because it doesn't produce visible lensing effect in the background that can give away it's position. A special cryogenic cooling system is used as a heat sink for the cloaking unit.**

 **The ship is powered by an Anti-deutrium fusion reactor with two repulsor engines for sub light propulsion and a slipspace drive for translight propulsion.**

 **The ship is equipped with powerful active sensors and imaging systems. Human scientists also developed a reverse quantum interference signaling which prevents the others ships from even seeing the ghost images picked up by their sensors which is normal for any cloaked vessel. It means Phantom class stealth vessels are a total surprise to enemies. It is also protected by human energy shielding. This vessel class in the fastest in the human navy.**

 **It has two weapon systems. One is a dual pulse laser cannons and another is EMP mine array.**

 **Strident class heavy frigates** **: Strident class frigates are 760 metres long, 150 meters wide and 130 metres height. These vessels are powered by two Tritium fusion reactors, 2 repulsor engines for sub-light propulsion and slipspace drive for FTL. It is protected by human energy shielding. The crew capacity is 280.**

 **It's main weapon is one Light Plasma Accelerator that shoots dense compressed plasma at 10kms per second. Secondary weapons include 2 lateral heavy laser cannons with one on each side, Reaper missile batteries.**

 **Marathon class light cruisers** **: These vessels are 1.5 kms long, 340 metres wide and 420 metres height. Ships are powered by two Anti-Helium-3 fusion reactors with 2 primary and 4 secondary repulsor engines for sublight propulsion and a slipspace drive for FTL. It is protected by human energy shielding. The crew capacity is 1200.**

 **It's main weapon is two Light Plasma Accelerators. Secondary weapons include 2 lateral heavy laser cannons in the stern, 2 lateral plasma turrets in the bow, Reaper missile batteries.**

 **Autumn class heavy cruisers** **: These vessels are 3 kms long, 580 metres wide and 730 metres height. Ships are powered by three Anti-Helium-3 fusion reactors with 2 primary and 4 secondary repulsor engines for sublight propulsion and a slipspace drive for FTL. It is protected by energy shielding. The crew capacity is 2400.**

 **It's main weapons include one Heavy Plasma Accelerator. Secondary weapons include 2 lateral heavy laser cannons in the stern and 1 heavy laser cannon at the bottom, 2 lateral plasma turrets in the bow, Reaper missile batteries, nuclear mine launchers, EMP mine launchers.**

 **Dawn class destroyers** **: This ship class is designed based on "** _ **ANCIENT HUMAN PRIME CRUISER**_ **"**

 **These vessels are 5.2 kms long, 1 km height and 810 meters wide. These ships are powered by one Helium-4 fusion reactor with one primary and two secondary repulsor engines. It uses energy shielding and slipspace drive. The crew capacity 10,200.**

 **The ships are equipped with 4 lateral plasma torpedoes in the front with 2 on each side. It uses 2 lateral Omega laser cannons at the rear. Other armaments include Reaper missile batteries, seeker missile batteries.**

 **The main weapon is the Matter Disintegration Beam Projector in the front face of the ship emitted between two rails that resemble a covenant needler gun's barrel. This high intensity energy stream can wipe out a radius of 100kms in the planet surface and can cleanse the entire planet at full power by triggering nuclear chain reaction in the atmospheric gases. This planet cleansing weapon makes the dawn class destroyers a dangerous asset to human navy. One ship can wipe out a single planet.**

 **Infinity class dreadnaught** **: These ships are the heavily modified versions of UNSC Infinity. These vessels are 9.4 kms long, 2 kms height and 1.2 kms wide. The ships are powered by two Helium-4 fusion reactors with 2 primary and 2 secondary repulsor engines. It uses Shielding and slipspace drive. The crew capacity is 28,900.**

 **The ships are equipped with 2 heavy plasma accelerators, 4 lateral plasma torpedoes with two on each side, 3 omega laser cannons-two on the rear lateral sides and one at the bottom, Reaper missile salvos, seeker missile salvos, 15 Strident frigates docked at the bottom hanger.**

 **Titan class heavy assault carrier** **: These are newly designed and developed ships. These vessels are 15.5 kms long, 3.1 kms height, 2.2 kms wide. The ships are powered by two Anti-Helium-4 fusion reactors with 2 primary and 4 secondary repulsor engines. It uses shielding and slipspace drive. The crew capacity is 51,000.**

 **The ships are equipped with 3 super heavy plasma accelerators, 8 plasma torpedoes, 4 light particle cannons, three omega-3 laser cannons, Reaper missile salvos, seeker missile salvos. Also it carries 5 phantom class stealth ships and 10 strident heavy frigates.**

 **Juggernaut class super carriers** **: These are newly designed and developed ships. These vessels are 22.5 kms long, 5.2 kms height, 3.4 kms wide. The ships are powered by four Anti-Helium-4 fusion reactors with 3 primary and 4 secondary repulsor engines. It uses shielding and slipspace drive. The crew capacity is 72,000.**

 **The ships are equipped with 4 super heavy plasma accelerators, 12 plasma torpedoes, 6 light particle cannons, three omega-5 laser cannons, Reaper missile salvos, seeker missile salvos. It also carries 8 stealth ships, 12 strident frigates.**

 **Oblivion class fortress vessels** **: The most dangerous and the deadiest ships in human navy. After extragalactic colonization became tremendous, Human Security Council ordered manufacturing of powerful planet breaker vessels for inter galactic security purposes or as the fleet of last resort. They usually patrol the inter-galactic void and monitor the galaxy for peak threat levels.**

 **Oblivion fortress vessels partially resemble the Forerunner fortress vessels with added human design architecture. There are 3 class of ships - 60 kms tall, 80 kms tall and 100 kms tall. Every galaxy has four 60 kms vessels, four 80 kms vessels and two 100 kms vessels to a total of ten ships per galaxy.**

 **The Fortress vessels have a flag ship which is the biggest ship ever created by humanity. It is named** _ **'Labyrinth of Chaos'**_ **which is 260 kms tall, 115 kms length and 100 kms wide. This flagship is the personal vessel of Commander John-117, leader of the human military in all 50 galaxies.**

 **The fortress vessels carry a network of particle cannons, point defense laser cannons, series of super heavy plasma mortars, millions of seeker missile salvos, Reaper missile salvos. Crew components include 100,000 personnel, thousands of Longsword, Broadsword and Griffin fighters, thousands of ground vehicles and tens of thousands of argus drones. The main weapon of these planet breakers is the most powerful energy beam projector located below halfway in the front face of the vessel. It is codenamed** _ **'Azrael'**_ **named after the angel of death. This beam projector shoots powerful energy streams that will punch straight into the planet's core and collapses it. This process will completely shatter the planet to asteroid debris.**

 **John-117's flagship has an even more powerful version of this weapon, codenamed** _ **'Thanatos'**_ **named after the demon of death that can send a star to supernova.**

 **The fortress vessels are powered by** _ **Nexus power core.**_ **Human scientists while studying the slipspace also identified multiple alternate dimensions in similarity. They found one such realm called the '** _ **Nexus'**_ **so much filled with photons of energy exceeding the collective energy of the entire universe's physical matter.**

 **Then they developed huge powerful energy siphons in order to tap into the available energy in the Nexus.**

 **The fortress vessels possess powerful energy shields and slipspace drive.**

 _ **vi)**_ _ **Materials**_ _ **:**_

 **Over the 60,000 years time span, humans have exceedingly improved on fabrication of extremely dense and strong materials. Glass had always been in use in both buildings and ships.**

 **Engineered cross chained dense polymers are the most tough and high tensile strength organic materials developed by humans. Their use ranges from being used as thermal and electrical insulators and reinforcement agents.**

 **The most important material developed by humanity is the** _ **'Titanium-Iridium degenerate nano composite'**_ **. This is fabricated by compressing 2D layers of Titanium and Iridium nano sheets alternatively to degeneracy pressure and applying heat to create permenant fusion of layers to form extremely dense composite. But their weight is only greater by a factor of 3.8 than Titanium.**

 **This material codenamed** _ **'NC-D' is used for starship's hull and spartan battlesuit plating.**_

 **The important property of this material is that a ship's hull made of NC-D can with stand multiple powerful shots from a heavy plasma accelerator and particle cannons before total failure. It can withstand atmospheric re-entry without shields with no damage. Thus in terms of durability, NC-D surpass the strength of Forerunner materials.**

 **All the ships hull are made of NC-D material.**

 _ **vii)**_ _ **Laser technology**_ _ **:**_

 **Humanity had virtually mastered the laser beam technology to full extent. The lasers are one of the most important naval weaponery.**

 **Humanity since 10000 AD, have developed molecular laser technology, an immense feat of engineering.**

 _ **Molecular lasers**_ **work by forcing agitation on a number of molecules through electromagnetic field disturbance that alternatively strengthen and significantly weaken molecular bonds. The difference in energy in this process is released as coherent ultra high energy photons. Triple bonded Acetelyne serves as the best candidate for laser beam.**

 **The wavelength of this laser beam is between 0.1 to 0.8 armstrong.**

 **Pulse laser cannons** **are 50mm cannons that shoot high energy laser beam in alternating pulse at very high speed to that of a chain gun.**

 **Heavy laser cannons** **are 100mm cannons that shoot powerful laser beam as individual pulses but with very low firing rate like a battle tank cannon.**

 **Omega laser cannons** **are the most powerful continuous laser beam ever produced by humans. Omega lasers have beam power of 100 terawatts which can only be done with a help of fusion reactor's energy. Omega lasers can obliterate a shielded covenant crusier in a single shot. Omega-3 lasers are 300 terawatts beam and Omega-5 lasers are 500 terawatts beam.**

 _ **viii)**_ _ **Cloaking technology**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans have developed their own versions of camoflauge called 'Active cloak'. For this technology, humans have synthesized quantum engineered nano crystals of Azurite, a carbonate mineral.**

 **When an electric current is passed through, the nano crystals are polarised, so that the incoming light is guided by the crytallographic planes along the desired direction, bending it's path over the surface of the body. This light bending makes the object invisible. The heat generated is removed by a separate cryogenic unit.**

 **This cloak does not produce lensing effect which means it is still effective at higher level movements.**

 **Phantom class stealth ships and Spartan battlesuits possess cloaking technology.**

 _ **ix)**_ _ **Slipspace technology**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans possess supreme understanding of slipspace than what they knew 60,000 years ago. This was solely due to the extensive research and innovative breakthroughs made by a renowned physicist Dr. Howard brown. This good doctor specializes in the field of "** _ **slipspace and alternate dimensions"**_ **.**

 **It was he who studied and unlocked several mysteries and aspects of slipspace on his own and went on to device his own slipspace drive that was on par with forerunner drives back in 2557 AD.**

 **As of now humans have developed slipspace drives with hyper accurate navigational capabilities following Dr. Howard brown's foot steps.**

 **Current human slipspace drives generate a single quantum singularity of planck length across and gradually open the singularity to ship size by feeding of energy creating a traversable slipspace portal into which the ships can travel. According to Dr. Brown, the navigational accuracy lies in the generation of the smallest of singularities, which means singularities generated at planck scale has the highest level of accuracy. Highest accuracy can be defined as opening the correct path into the slipspace, thus shortening the travel time.**

 **Current human drives can cross a galactic diameter in 30 minutes. This is far beyond the capabilities of Forerunner drives.**

 **Continuous researches into the slipspace also had the humans come across the phenomenon of** _ **space-time debt**_ **which they termed as 'Causal fracture'. Scientists found that prolonged travel and movement of huge masses through slipspace created event distortions in the real space because of the hydrostatic stress created from within the slipspace to the normal space. This was identified on galactic scale where they measured lots of errors in communication signals and errors in slipstream navigation where sometime ships would be forced out of slipspace prematurely to undergo a process of healing from the paradoxical strain.**

 **After working on the methods to permanently remove this fracture, they did research for 50 years and came up with a solution. Ships would be fitted with a 'Tachyon field generator' which creates tachyonic field around the ship which reduces the ship's relative mass to zero. Due to this zero mass, it cannot react with the slipspace and will not produce stress even though present inside it. Once the ship exits the slipspace, the tachyon field is removed. This is humanity's way of correcting causal breach.**

 **There is an added advantage in this method. Internal stress created can be used to track the vessels travelling through slipstream space and even accurately predict their exit point at the time using relativistic echoes that resonate through the space. Forerunners possessed this ability to clog ancient human ships by denying them access to slipspace and predict their arrival. But since tachyon field brings the ship's relative mass to zero, it is virtually impossible to track their movement and predict their exit point. In this way, humans have transcended the forerunners in understanding slipspace.**

 **Apart from slipspace drives, humans have also demonstrated their ability to manipulate slipspace. Once such technology developed was** _ **"Hibernation capsules".**_ **These are Humanity's version of time lock device. Forerunners and San shyuum have developed their own time lock devices in their prehistoric times.**

 **Hibernation capsules** **a.k.a** _ **Entropy Dilation Chambers**_ **are human sized cryotubes which can manipulate entropy through a process called '** _ **Gravitational warping'**_ **. In this process, entropy can be accelerated, stopped or reversed through gravity manipulation. Accelerated entropy accelerates time within the capsule. This is done usually to force healing process in persons from fatal injuries in a short time. When the entropy is stopped, it becomes a suspended animation, similar to cryonic sleep. Reversed entropy can reverse time itself in restoring the previous states, including memories which means a person would have never known what happened in his present time. Human hibernation capsules are technologically close to the level of Precursors themselves.**

 **Apart from that, humans have developed teleportation techniques for short range instant translocation. Spartan battlesuits possess in built translocation unit that helps them with teleportation.**

 _ **x)**_ _ **Propulsion technology**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans have developed their own versions of Repulsor engines for sublight propulsion.** **Human Repulsor engines** **use trillions of micro singularities generated with sufficient mass. These singularities instantly vaporize into ultra high photon energy density in nanoseconds through hawking radiation. This energy density is accelerated through the nozzle into the space to create the necessary momentum thrust to move the ships.**

 **Deutron plasma propulsion** **is another propulsion engine developed by humans for space crafts. Ultra high energy thermal deutrium(hydrogen-2) ions generated from Tritium-Tritium fusion reactions are electromagnetically accelerated to generate thrust force.**

 _ **xi)**_ _ **Power generation technology**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans over the time of 60,000 years have developed both conventional and unconventional ways of harvesting energy.**

 **Fusion reactor** **: Fusion reactors are in use since time immemorial by humans. Humanity have significantly improved and mastered the Fusion technology. As time progressed, humans have developed advanced inertial confinement techniques to create efficient fusion power. But fusion reactors are used only in powering starships. Even Antimatter fusion power has been a common thing among humans. The different fusion powers developed are as follows.**

 **Anti-Deutrium Fusion power**  
 **Tritium-Tritium Fusion power**  
 **Anti-Helium-3 Fusion power**  
 **Helium-4 Fusion power**  
 **Anti-Helium-4 Fusion power**

 **Plasmadynamic power** **: This is an advanced form of power generation technology. Nitrogen is the only gas used for this power source. Here Nitrogen gas is converted to high energy plasma through electrical discharge and then compressed to 1.5 million kelvin temperature using super conducting magnets. The high pressure plasma is released at high velocity into a Electromagnetic turbine which generates hundreds of megawatts of power. Some facilities and Mammoth ground vehicles are powered by this generator. **

**Quasar power source** **: This is considered as one of the most significant technology developed by any race. Quasars are intense streams of electromagnetic energy that are released by supermassive black holes at the active galactic nuclei. Quasars have power output in the range of 10^35 watts.**

 **Humans have constructed huge energy harvesting facilities above quasars outside the blackhole's gravity field. The EM energy emnating is collected by the facility and converted to power. This power is supplied through out the galaxy by using special electrical conduits built within a series of slipspace networks. Small slipspace portals are constantly kept open on any two sides for continuous supply of power through these conduits. Likewise multiple conduits are built for efficient and safe transmission.**

 **A single quasar can supply steady power to an entire galaxy for millions of years. Out of 50 galaxies, 10 have found to contain quasars. Thus all the 10 galaxies are powered by quasars. Humans are the only race to generate power from quasars.**

 **Nexus power core** **: The most advanced form of power generation ever developed by humanity. **

**This all started with research into alternate dimensions. Humans by 27,557 AD while studying alternate dimensions were exposed to the existense of other realms each having unique laws of physics defying properties. One such realm was this 'Nexus'. Nexus realm consists of active photons whose energy exceeds the collective energy of this universe. Seeing its potential, scientists did years of study to harness power from that realm.**

 **Though humans succeeded, the first experiment was disastrous. Scientists developed a powerful energy siphon to extract the energy from Nexus. They created a micro slipspace portal with the coordinates to that realm. But soon as the portal was created, the Nexus released tremendous energy that the scientists and engineers couldn't contain it. The energy destroyed the whole planet killing all its inhabitants and also sent the star to premature red giant phase destroying first 3 planets and atmospheres of all the planets, leaving it's wake in the entire system.**

 **Then after few more researches and advanced mathematical calculations, they finally found out the correct size of the portal to be created to control the energy flow. Multiple numbers of steady slipspace portals of 0.1 nanometers across to the Nexus were created. It then released a total energy of 10^ 38 watts every second. Having developed facilities to extract energy from Quasars, Engineers were able to construct an even more sophisticated energy siphon to convert the Nexus energy to power.**

 **Oblivion fortress vessels and Orbital defense stations are powered by Nexus energy core. John-117's Armageddon battle suit uses a miniature Nexus siphon.**

 _ **xii)**_ _ **Energy Shielding**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans have developed their own energy shielding back at 2557 AD itself. Human energy shielding use streams of super cooled positrons quantum mechanically locked to one another, forming a solid surface. This solid positron surface is used as shielding in starships and spartan battlesuits.**

 **Solid positron barrier is 2.5 times more durable than hard light surfaces the forerunners had developed. The same shields are used to protect certain planets whose star exhibits higher levels of coronal activity.**

 _ **xiii)**_ _ **Battlesuit and armor technology**_ _ **:**_

 **One of the most significant piece of military technology developed by Humans. Military scientists had been constantly researching on improving powered armor capabilities with the parallel increase in technological sophistication.**

 **At present, humans use Officer armor, class 5 battlesuit, class 12 battlesuit and Special armor for spartan IIs.**

 **Officer armor** **: These armors strangely resemble the ancient human officer armor. The best example being the one worn by Lord of Admirals Forthencho. These are in general uniforms worn by non-combat crew. They have good durability but does not provide protection against any weapons. This armor is usually worn by military non-combat officers. It is bluish black in color with suit designs representing the officers. **

**Class 5 battlesuit** **: This is worn by Army, Navy, Airforce and Marine combat personnel. This armor is highly compact and elegant in design and is tight fit to the wearer. This armor does not have energy shields but can withstand multiple energy rounds before failure. The armor appears complete as a single unit from neck to toes. The helmet visor provide live augmented reality data about the surroundings. It also has a combat AI for assistance. Apart from this, the suit has body regulation units, toxin filters, thrusters, shaped plasma combat knives in the upper wrists for melee combat.**

 **Class 12 Battlesuit** **: This is worn by Spartan super soldiers. This armor is bigger, compact and elegant in design and is tight fit to the wearer. This armor is protected by solid positron shielding and is a lot more stronger and durable than class 5. The helmet visor produce augmented reality HUDs about the environment, advanced sensors, Holographic decoy unit, maneuvering thrusters, smart AI assistance, body regulation units, toxin filters, instant healing units for injury treatment, powerful neural interface for better reaction time and information processing, strength boosters, teleportation unit, shaped plasma knives in the upper wrists. This battle suit is worn above the black nano-synthetic body suit.**

 **Mantis warmaster** **: This is a huge powered tripedal exoskeleton standing 8 meters tall. It is piloted by any combat personnel. It has energy shielding, advanced sensors, in built combat AI, multiple talon missile launchers in the left arm, three barreled plasma chain gun in the right arm, EMP generator to knock off any electronics, vehicles in 5 metre radius. They also utilize heavy thrusters for maneuvering. **

**The** _ **Spartan IIs**_ **use battlesuits that are explained separately.**

 _ **xiv)**_ _ **Genetic Engineering and Nano technology**_ _ **:**_

 **Humanity had ascended to higher levels of biological evolutions with the help of genetic engineering. With constant improvement in medical science, scientists were able to alter human genes to improve the physical appearance and abilities and their population explosion.**

 **By altering telomere divisions in the chromosomes, human life span since 30,000 AD have increased to 780 years. Men stood 6'4" tall and Women stood 6'1" tall. Average body mass and strength have significantly increased.**

 **Combat personnel possessed very high strength, stamina and agility with their extremely tough training regimen. Spartan augmentations have greatly improved making the next generation spartans stronger, faster and deadlier. Current Spartans stand 7'3" tall due to advanced superior augmentation. Spartan IIs stand 7'7" tall except John-117 who is 7'10" and Jorge-052 who is 8'3" taller.**

 **Cloning of organs for replacement have become a common thing though full human cloning was outright banished according to UN colonial Mortal Dictata. All the surgeries are now being performed by AI controlled bots with human medical assistance. Sterile field generators are used to prevent growth or intrusion of harmful bacteria within the surgical zone.**

 **Nano technology is at it's peak among humans. Nanotechnology is used in all manufacturing industries for material and parts fabrication. Molecular nano assemblers are used in all the industries to achieve this. Virtually anything can be fabricated with these assemblers in very short time.**

 **Apart from industrial uses, Nano technology has also been used in reaching indefinite human life span by stopping telomere division that causes aging. But due to it's difficulty in doing on a grand scale, this is given only to certain individuals whose service to humanity are forever needed.**

 **Those persons are Lord Hood, Thomas Lasky, Sarah Palmer, Gabriel thorne, Jameson locke, Dr. Halsey, Dr. Howard Brown, Prof. Ellen Anders, Cptn. James cutter, ODST SSgt. Marcus, Cptn. Veronica dare. Though Spartans IIs are special cases.**

 **The irony fact is that with all these genetic advancements, humanity couldn't extend their lifespan to significant numbers artificially while using technology to achieve immunity to aging. There's something mysteriously more at play.**

 **Flood Immunity** **: The most important and significant achievement that humanity ever made was utilizing the combination of Bio and Nano technology to become immune to the flood parasite.**

 **Back in 21,550 AD, humanity officially announced a new vaccination against a particular disease to the general public in order to avoid mass hysteria. This immunity is infact a bio-engineered techno-organic virus. Researches in to flood helped them to know how the parasite assimilates a sentient being into one of it's own.**

 **This engineered virus is embedded into a nanite that serves two purpose, first to create an antigen to counter the effects of the flood's resonant neuro-chemical signal that forces the subjugation of a sentient being's nervous system to take possession of the host. The nanite in turn will provide the necessary protein bases for self replication of the virus in case the old one becomes inert or exhausted. Thus without subjugating the nervous system, flood cannot mutate a sentient organism, thus starving to death. This techno-organic nano-virus survives using the metabolic heat generated in organisms.**

 **The virus was engineered by human scientists using the genetic sample of the Lekgolo worms due to their natural immunity to the flood.**

 **This immunity is given to every human and all the covenant species and domestic, wild animals thanks largely to the efforts of Dr. Halsey.**

 _ **xv)**_ _ **Communications**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans since 6000 AD have completely eliminated the the use of electromagnetic spectrum for communications.**

 **Humans have mastered quantum communication and is still in use as of now. They use encrypted micro slipspace channels protected by powereful tunneling protocols for information exchange. At the two ends of the channel an atom is placed. Manipulation of quantum states of one atom, affects the quantum states of the other atom through Quantum Electrodynamic interaction. This interaction is the message carried from one node to another. Short range quantum pairs are used to communicate with in a galaxy. Long range pairs are used for communicating between different galaxies.**

 _ **xvi)**_ _ **Computers and Holography**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans have developed extremely advanced quantum computers for computations. They have the peak accuracy in delivering results. Slipspace navigational data are processed by quantum computers for accurate coordinate generation.**

 **For data processing, human scientists have developed 16-dimensional quantum matrix, a processor for performing quantum computations.**

 **For data storage, scientists developed Entropy memory substrates, a module that uses a system of atomic particles where informations are stored as entropy change of the particles. The size of memory module is small such that it is hand held. The principle is that every change in entropy is equal to a quantum probability of exclusive event(Data). An event is an atom moving a distance equal to it's diameter. That probability is created and manipulated as data storage. Humans use 24 particle system which means the total possible probability is approximately (24 x 10^30 -24) (Based on the size of the working space inside the module) independent exclusive events, which means (24 x 10^30 -24) bytes of data can be stored in that module. A series of electromagnetic pulses are used to change entropy. To retrieve data, the entropy state related to that data must be restored.**

 **This technology is far advanced than Forerunner technology.**

 **Holography plays an important role among humans.** **Hardlight Holograms** **are what humans use for computer display, control panels and consoles to actuate any machinery or computer terminal. Hardlight computers are projected by emitters into the open space and are manipulated by normal human hands. Hard light control panels and consoles are used for input and control of hardlight display and computing systems. Hardlight computers are used virtually everywhere from domestic home to powerful starships. Smart and Synthetic AI display themselves as hardlight human bodies.**

 _ **xvii)**_ _ **Artificial Gravity**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans have mastered the art of manipulating gravity to desired effects. Generally, Gondolas powered by artificial gravity are common and used almost in all the planets. Also used in levitation for ground vehicles especially Mammoth and Argus drones. Orbital defense stations use artificial gravity at geo-sync orbits.**

 **Unlike early 26th century versions which use gravity plates, rotating sections and inertia for simulation, Humans are able to create gravitons and anti-gravitons as easy as positive and negative current. All star ships use graviton particle powered gravitation.**

 **The extreme use of gravity is the one used in Hibernation capsules where gravitational warping is employed to manipulate entropy field.**

 _ **3)**_ _ **Human Military forces**_ _ **:**_

 _ **i)**_ _ **UGSC**_ _ **:**_

 **UGSC stands for United Inter-Galactic Space Command, the governing military body of humanity. UGSC has 5 sections**

 **UGSC Army**  
 **UGSC Navy**  
 **UGSC Airforce**  
 **UGSC Marine corps**  
 **UGSC Special Defense Force**

 **As of 35,600 AD, The UGSC military in all the galaxies and the future to be colonized galaxies came under the rule of the Spartan IIs due to several reasons. Some of them being their 30,000 years of military service and their unparalled military coordination, tactical skills, knowledge in military science and technologies and the power they represented.**

 **John-117 is the commander for the entire human military and the other spartan IIs serve under his leader ship. But the entire spartan IIs in general, are the top leaders of UGSC.**

 _ **ii)**_ _ **IHF**_ _ **:**_

 **IHF stands for Inter-galactic Human Federation, the civilian government that represents the human empire. It is ruled by the president of humanity and council of elders called the Senators.**

 _ **iii)**_ _ **Spartan super soldiers**_ _ **:**_

 **The Spartan supersoldier program dates back as far as 26th century where the successful creation of Spartan II supersoldiers helped humanity to survive.**

 **At present, the Spartan supersoldiers are continued improvement of the spartan IV program that began after 2553 AD. The current Spartans possess superior strength, agility, stamina and endurance such that they can easily topple a Mgalekgolo or an adult Jiralhanae chieftain with little effort. This also comes with the coupled Class 12 battlesuit. Spartans are utilized by humans in response to higher level threats. These soldiers are under the command of** _ **Special Defense Force**_ **(SDF).**

 **But there are also these surviving Spartan II soldiers namely John-117, kelly-087, Linda-058, Fred-104, Jorge-052, Jerome-092, Douglas-042, Alice-130.**

 **These Spartan IIs were subjected to continuous genetic alterations that unlocked their latent abilities with prolonged life span. As of 33,447 AD, Spartan IIs exhibited metaphysical abilities that became the most important part of human evolution and humanity's leap in to the tier-0 technological scale.**

 _ **4)**_ _ **Planetary and Astro Engineering**_ _ **:**_

 **Humanity have significantly improved in terraforming technologies by 4340 AD when they made break throughs in developing a piece of technology called 'The Shapers'. The shapers are different tools and forms of advanced terraforming of planetary system that used directed energy streams which made geographic and meteorological manipulation easier. Coupled with extremely advanced and efficient slipspace travel, humans set a terraforming record of 1,100 worlds per year.**

 **Human astro engineering has only one example, Star Harvestation. In order to prevent excessive mining of galaxy's resources, humans managed to artificially create stars through controlled fusion and instantly grow it to the size of a main sequence star whose core would be so rich in minerals. Then using stellar harvesters that utilize channelized gravity beams, the core would be mined for the materials required. Once the fusion fuel gets depleted, the star would eventually die out into cold gas. An artificial star can live upto 100 years with prolonged continuous mining. Stellar harvesters use channelized gravity beams to pull out the materials and at the same time prevent the death of star due to loss in mass while mining.**

 **While being technological capable of building planets and dyson spheres, humans never expressed interest in them.**

 _ **5)**_ _ **Metaphysics and Neural Engineering**_ _ **:**_

 **When the Spartan IIs were subjected to constant genetic therapies to improve and study their potential, A team led by doctor Halsey discovered their ability to affect physical matter with their mind, though it was all an accident. The Spartans struggled a lot to keep their mind intact.**

 **It was then this case was trasferred to the department of Metaphysics and Neural Engineering located in a colony world at Black eye galaxy. They studied Spartan IIs complete brain mapping and neural template for atleast 8 months and finally published astonishing results. The science community was made known of the awakened Psychokinetic abilities that the Spartan IIs exhibited and also published lots of journals regarding the potential of this ability.**

 **Then the Spartan IIs were given training on Metaphysics and practice sessions to control their abilities. After reviewing all those journals, doctor Halsey and her team made separate research on the actual theoretical physics behind this ability and found out that her Spartans were able to create controlled neuromagnetism that extended out to the real space and manipulated the physical object. She also found that the magnetism took any shape to manipulate the object in the way they desired and it all depended on their thoughts and concentration.**

 **On one fine day, she once again asked her spartans to manipulate the physical object to get a full reading on this neuromagnetism. The result of the experiment made her happy as she received more positive results than she expected. The neuromagnetism extended from the spartans neural network and interacted with the physical object through virtual photon alignment in the quantum vacuum. She was astounded that the neural field was able to interact with the virtual photons in the space, thus giving rise to a powerful magnetic potential. But the virtual photons were so powerful that she termed it as metaphysical energy. This potential was stronger with the level of concentration the spartans brain provided.**

 **After publishing her test results back to the Metaphysics department, They began running one more test. In that experiment, they concluded that the spartans were able to do anything with their mind because the surrounding space-time itself is allowing them to do it by adjusting itself and act as the mediator between the mind and the matter. Thus explaining that there seems to be some sort of resonant connection between the mind of a sentient being and the space-time and even went so far as to theorize that the space time itself could be acting like an organic entity with a consiousness of its own helping those who filled it's place. Though skeptical at first, the science community anyhow accepted this theory as it was evidently proven with the Spartan IIs.**

 **The Metaphysics based those beliefs and began vigorous training session for the Spartan IIs to master this ability for 5 consistent years.**

 **On the other hand, Doctor halsey had been working on a battle suit for the Spartan IIs that can fully utilize these metaphysical abilities. She codenamed her work as "PROJECT ARMAGEDDON". She took the neuron data of individual spartans and developed a battle suit that responds to their own metaphysical energy from their brain.**

 **Details:**

 **These battle suits were exceedingly elegant and ornamental in design with lots of complex contour profiles in the armor. John's suit was the most elegant and ecstasic with black armor and blue glowing lines. This was done especially to express them for their role as the leaders of human military.**

 **She then developed a special body suit for each spartan that are laced with billions of artificial neurons created from samples of each spartan. These neurons will act as metaphysical amplifier that will alter the physical nature of the armor itself at the spartan's will, like altering the armor materials density. These neurons also create a permanent bond with the wearer's mind making the entire suit to be virtually indestructable. Also these neurons help spartans to create any psychokinetic effects.**

 **She then developed a miniature slipspace unit within which they can store their armor and summon it to wrap over them at will. A specialized helmet for each spartan that has different Visor designs. Inside, it has a display system with the most advanced augmented reality display about the live environment and everything present or about the focused objects. The body suit is also fitted with a highly advanced quantum computer and memory module. A small hard light hologram emitter is fitted to display personal holograms in front of them for interfacing with outside control systems. These hologram work in syncronization with the quantum computer. The miniature slipspace unit that stores their armor is also used to store other objects including weapons and ammo. A translocation grid is internally built in the suit for teleportation.**

 **With the armor, the spartan IIs can levitate objects of any size and weight (5 times the weight and size of Mgalekgolo with relative ease), create telekinetic forcefield that can withstand multiple nuclear explosions, Energy shockwaves that can create ground tremors, telekinetic blast by manipulating gravity through mind to repel and push anything with mega-newtons of force, large telekinetic energy blades from the wrists made of high energy photons assembled with thoughts for melee combat, manipulate small physical objects and rearranging molecules with mind to create hard surfaces or sharp solid molecular spikes for attack. Long range telepathy is possible with the armor.**

 **As the Armageddon battlesuit is virtually indestructable due to it's metaphysical nature, the Spartan IIs can survive anything, be it planet break or supernova, hypernova or even the immense energy stream from the binary black holes. Also the suit makes them immortal and ageless.**

 **John-117 on the other hand had personally upgraded his suit on his own with the help of his AI friend Cortana. He retrofitted a mini Nexus energy core with in the battlesuit to channel energy from Nexus to shoot energy bolts from his right and left hand palms controlled by his mind. This was partly because that John-117 exhibited superior abilites than all other Spartan IIs thus pushing his limits far beyond. But still, in terms of physical strength, Jorge even exceeded John.**

 **This was the sole reason that the Spartan IIs were made the leaders of the human military. The Spartan IIs mind were both scientific and militaristic making them the representatives of the human empire's might.**

 **Metaphysical Engineering** **: With the advent of metaphysical abilities, Department of Metaphysics and Neural Engineering began experiments to find out a way to use the metaphysical energy to reinforce objects to make it indestructable. After constant research, they developed artifacts that can contain and distribute metaphysical energy not only in smaller objects but also in huge objects, even an entire planet.**

 **Then they began mass production of huge artifact that can collect the metaphysical energy from all the people who live on a planet and then distribute it through out the world reinforcing it with the energy.**

 **The living people does not possess any metaphysical abilities. But the neuromagnetism is a common phenomenon for all sentient lives. A single person's neuromagnetic energy is weak, but the said energy is strong among a group. Thus a planet with a population of 900 million gives out significant neuromagnetic energy. This artifact taps into that energy, amplifies it and distribute through out the planet and creates a permanent bond between the people and the planet. This reinforced planets can still be intact for many billions of years.**

 **The artifacts are kept hidden underground of a planet from where the energy is distributed. The main aim of this reinforcement is to make the planet indestructable.**

 **About 1.1 million worlds have been reinforced with metaphysical energy using the artifact.**

 **Ironically, this is something that the Precursors did but under a different name called 'Neural physics'.**

 _ **6)**_ _ **Artificial Intelligence**_ _ **:**_

 **Humans have mastered the creation of sentient AIs. There are 3 classes of AI that humanity creates and use.**

 **Combat AI** **: A highly advanced non-sentient AI used by human soldiers in their class 5 battlesuit for assistance. They are manually programmed and have indefinite lifespan.**

 **Smart AI** **: These are highly advanced sentient AI used in every capital ship of a battle group and a fleet. These AI can take command of an entire fleet in the place of it's commanding officer and coordinate them with extreme efficiency. **

**Smart AIs are created by neural mapping of a very high ranking military officer or chief scientist's brain who creates the AI. Neural mapping techniques are highly efficient with no destructive side effects unlike the 26th century counterpart. Current Smart AIs are faster with the quantum computing and the memory base provided gives them a life span of atleast 250,000 years.**

 **Spartan super soldiers carry a smart AI in their class 12 battlesuit. But not every soldier is given an AI. A spartan fireteam's leader carries the smart AI and the AI connect's itself with the whole team. A team consists of 12 Spartans.**

 **Smart AI takes the form of a man or woman made of hardlight appearing out of a hardlight pedastal in a starship or within a spartan battlesuit's portable AI chip.**

 **Spartan IIs are served by their friend Cortana who is carried by John-117.**

 **Synthetic AI** **: These are the most powerful and the most advanced sentient AI. These AI are powered by a life seed and an advanced self learning neural network. **

**A life seed is an artificially synthesized human DNA from scratch by encoding the protein base pairs with the desired traits. This will guide the AI with it's abilities. A self learning neural network is created and synchronized with the life seed. Then the neural network is given access to collective human knowledge which it uses to learn and adapt itself. In just a year, the synthetic AI reaches full maturity.**

 **Synthetic AI are given full previleges of a living human being. This AI is created to be the overseer of military and industrial operations of a whole galaxy, Out of 50, 14 galaxies are provided synthetic AI to each one to look after the military and industrial operations of that assigned galaxy. They hold great power and respect among everyone. These AI are given a galaxy wide grid for instant translocation to any place possible. Synthetic AI can walk and move with free will, free of any restrains.**

 **Life seed based AI takes the form of a man or woman in normal human size purely made of hardlight. Synthetic AIs are a lot powerful than Forerunner contender class ancilla and have indefinite life span and are immune to logic plague due to their biological nature.**

 **Synthetic AI can be related to the Precursor intelligence called 'Abaddon'.**

 _ **7)**_ _ **Technological Tier**_ _ **:**_

 **Human technologies are unparalleled. Even Forerunner technologies are considered far inferior.**

 **Humanity stands at tier-0 in technological scale with the utilization of metaphysics and in depth understanding of the nature of space-time, construction of indestructible Armageddon battlesuits using metaphysics, Entropy manipulating hibernation capsules, reinforcing at least a million planets with metaphysical energy, mind over matter abilities of Spartan IIs, harnessing power from Nexus, creation of life seed based AI, colonization of multiple galaxies.**

 **Thus humanity are technological equals of the Precursors but very marginally. Because, still the human understanding of the universe is far too inferior than that of the Precursors. It is safe to say that the humanity's effective use of Metaphysics is at the least basic compared to the knowledge and power the Precursors held. For example, humans don't even get to know the Precursors ability to create star roads and the ability to warp reality and alter Space time on cosmic scale. These are eons ahead of knowledge.**

 **There is a common notion that humanity needs at least 2 billion years to become 100% equals to the Precursors.**

 **In terms of biological evolution, humanity is only in upper tier-2 or close to tier-1 as they were still physiologically inferior to that of the forerunners including life span and body size. This was maybe due to the Precursors intervention eons ago regarding human evolution.**

 **It is ironic to note that modern humanity took only a 160,000 years since the last firing of halo arrays to reach this position, too fast for any race in the universe on their own. Even ancient humanity took a million years to evolve but still far below the Forerunners.**

 _ **8)**_ _ **Society, Culture and Beliefs**_ _ **:**_

 **Early on in their history, humans fought a lot of civil wars, the most notable being the insurrection and the 22nd century interplanetary wars. But ever since humanity began venturing into the outer galaxies, the first one being Andromeda, the civil wars had been suppressed to a greater degree. This was chiefly due to the change in political structure and new regulation that had been brought forth by the human government.**

 **Even though IHF is the governing body for the humans in all 50 galaxies, each galaxy is given a separate ruler to make independent decision for their welfare. That ruling party must give constant reports to the human senators who will oversee their progress. This political change resulted in each human galaxy staying independent yet wholly governed. This totally eliminated the need for civil wars and local conflicts.**

 **With respect to their culture, a lot has changed. Men and Women are equally treated in every aspect. Even though English is their lingua franca, still they highly respect the multi linguistic culture. Having many languages created a positive diversity among the people and their evolution.**

 **Despite the above traits, humans are highly militaristic. They invest a lot in military assets. About 50% of the total human population are military personnel which is the highest ever recorded for any species with Sanghelli being the only rival due to their naturally warrior like culture.**

 **Humanity had officially released historical records of ancient humans, forerunners and all their historic struggles and conflicts, the wars they had been to. In every school, children had history lessons on these subjects as they felt that every generation should know their prehistoric times.**

 **Ever since humanity found the Large Magellanic cloud back in 2559, highly enriched with potential resources, They completely stopped all the researches and study into the forerunner technology and there was a great reason to it. Humans lacked the resources to develop highly advanced technologies despite having the ideas and potential to actuate it. But the LMC changed everything. The material resources available there made human technological progress leap into several millennia in just a few decades. The other reason they totally stopped researching forerunner artifacts and technology was, Humans always believed that they were capable of evolving on their own as they see fit without outside interference. The reverse engineering of certain covenant and forerunner technologies were solely due to humanity's desperation in saving themselves from the superior covenant forces during the war and didn't have time for their own progress. By 2560, humanity officially began their own research and development activities into the unconventional technologies they previously thought impossible. The ideas that had been shelved for a long time back due to lack of resources began to be dug out.**

 **Humans also believed in reaching the highest potential where reverse engineering was a complete contradiction to that belief as it only prevented them from reaching the fullest of their abilities. Their beliefs did really pay off in the next 60,000 years. This even led humans to give all the Forerunner technologies to the other races in the galaxy for their advancement as they too much relied on the prophets in the covenant era and after the dissolution, they struggled to make progress despite having the potential to do so.**

 **While the concept of the 'Mantle of Responsibility' was strongly fed among humanity, they were the first to reject that idea which was the Precursor's grounded belief for many billion years. Humanity believed in equality that every sentient being in the universe deserves equal opportunity and it's not one's place to judge others. Also that one species should not interfere in other species's natural evolution. Instead of taking care of everyone, humans believed the strongest point is being able to take care of each other.**

 _ **Views on the Forerunners:**_

 **Humans began to learn about the Forerunners on a large scale with their discovery of Halos, Shield worlds etc., At first, with the data provided by the forerunner monitors, humans viewed forerunners as a noble peace keeping race and felt great respect for them when realized that they sacrificed themselves to stop the flood parasite.**

 **But when they got their hands on certain testimonials like the monitor chakas's records and bornstellar relations, Human's view on forerunners turned mixed and even at a point, highly negative because of the revelation of their true nature, their attitude and the grim fate they left the ancient humanity into.**

 **After John-117 learned the billions of years of history from the Precursor AI, Abaddon, He came to know the real origins of humanity and Forerunners and the Forerunner's cruelity towards their creators ten million years back. Since then, human philosophers, politicians and scientists came to strongly resent the forerunners to a point that they viewed whatever the Forerunners did was to right their own wrongs and nothing too noble of that.**

 _ **Relationship with the Precursors**_ _ **:**_

 **Humanity as a whole does not have much information on the Precursors except a certain few facts.**

 **Though John-117 met a Precursor AI called Abaddon in an ancient Forerunner facility while searching for answers about humanity's past. Abaddon considered John-117 as one of the noblest beings in the universe. Just at the first sight, Abaddon learned about him and his approach towards his duties. The AI even went so far to say that John serves as an exemplar for the Precursor's decision to pass down the mantle to Humanity and worthy of becoming the next Precursors.**

 **Abaddon was well kept secret and only a handful of humans are aware ofit's existence.**

 **Abaddon also had an inner pride over Precursor's success after it observed the humans, watching them grow, evolve, become the conquerors of 50 galaxies setting up a legacy of the next inter-galactic empire after their own.**

 **...**

 **A/N: Here, in the 60,000 year time span, humanity managed to come into contact with few advanced alien civilizations in the 50 galaxies they colonized. And humanity also waged war against them due to their aggressive unprovoked attacks. It's just the grounded fact in my story, but don't wish to give more details on that. But it's possible that there could be primitive micro organisms though.**

 **You may think this infomation about human empire might be un-necessary. But this will play a part in Marvel universe.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: From this chapter onward, The Crossover story begins...**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or Marvel franchise**

 _ **John-117:**_

 **Birth date: March 07, 2511**  
 **Species: Human**  
 **Colony: Elysium city, Eridanus II**  
 **Gender: Male**  
 **Role: Human Military Commander in all 50 galaxies, Spartan-II soldier**  
 **Height: 7'10" (inside armor), 7'7" outside armor**  
 **Weight: 450 kg (in armor), 230 kg out of armor**  
 **Eye color: Aqua marine.**  
 **Facial feature** **: Rectangular chiseled face with flat top hairstyle.**  
 **Specialty** **: Command and Assault, Mastery in military tech, strategies and Weapons tech, very high Intelligence and Emotional Quotient.**  
 **Powers and Equipment** **: Armageddon Battle suit, Oblivion class flag ship, Metaphysical powers, Master martial artist.**  
 **Armor abilities** **: Amplified physical and metaphysical powers, Armor density alteration, Teleportation, levitation, ground tremors, gravity manipulation through mind, Hard light hologram emitter, in built quantum computer, bio-regulation system, AI housing (Cortana), Nexus power core, total invincibility.**

 **John-117 was one of the 75 children conscripted for the Spartan II program back in 2517. He along with the other children were selected for the project based on their unique genetic abilities. John-117 was identified by Dr. Catherine Halsey as the most strongest of them all though less than Jorge, having a calculative mind even as a child. After being kidnapped, the spartan IIs were heavily trained at Reach by Senior Chief Mendez.**

 **Over the years of training, John proved himself to be a capable leader along side Kurt, Fred and Jerome. John also became close friends with Kelly and Sam in the meantime and was devastated with the latter's death.**

 **John and other Spartan IIs participated in numerous wars against the then covenant enemies and against a few insurrectionists. Till the end of the war, John had seen so many losses with each and every one giving him the strength to prevent it further.**

 **John had the resolve to win and at the same time doing things the right way. John never hesitated to take life, but he always took deep care in making such a decision with cautiousness. John's extreme will power to overcome the odds was one of the prime reasons that he is considered the most powerful being. John's powers are significantly greater the other spartan IIs.**

 **John like his fellow spartans, over the 60,000 years of time span, had virtually mastered the military and weapons technologies and is even capable of developing them. He is a master military strategist taking the role of command and assault. His mind is both scientific and battle hardened.**

 **Despite weighing 450 kg underneath the slender armor, his close quarter combat abilities are exceptional. He can fight by flexing his body completely like an acrobat or gymnast. This was because of the armor's streamlined, elegant, smooth and fluid dynamic design. His reaction times as of now are unparalleled. He can view things at highly slowed down time frame such that he could easily evade a bullet flying at mach 2 in a short distance.**

 **His metaphysical abilities are superior to that of his brothers and sisters especially in terms of telekinesis and matter manipulation.**

 **His natural physical strength is far greater than any human or spartan except Jorge. John is capable of lifting 2.5 tons effortlessly** ** **and 6 tons at maximum** without his armor. Underneath the armor, his powers and strength are greatly multiplied to his wish. **

**Amidst all these abilities, there's one thing he's not resistant to even inside armor. Its the impact resistance. He can't resist impact from significant blow that will have him lose focus and balance.**

 **Chapter 1: It happens...**  
 **Sep 21, 62558 AD...**  
 **Intergalactic space near M33 triangulum...**

John-117, the human military commander was riding in his personal flagship, _Labyrinth of chaos._ His ship belongs to the Oblivion class fortress vessel of pure human design and it is the biggest vessel in entire human navy. It is 260kms tall, 115kms long and 100 kms wide. The ship carries almost all human technologies to work with and maintain. It has network of DE cannons and missile batteries and some of the most powerful weapons for ship-ship and ship-ground combat. The _'Thanatos'_ weapon which is the only star breaker can collapse main sequence stars to supernova. The ship is powered by Nexus power core where energy is harnessed from an alternate dimension called 'Nexus'.

The interior of the ship is highly elegant and big in size. John always complained about ship decks being small in frigates which doesn't give much room for maneuverability. It was true as Spartans totally relied on their superior mobility for surprise and covert attacks and they considered their body as the deadliest weapons of all.

His ship was mildly pacing the inter-galactic void outside the triangulum galaxy. Cortana, his AI friend who had been constantly upgraded over time by doctor Halsey, was running systems check on the ship. Cortana currently appears as human sized hard light hologram from an emitter while her physical matrix residing in a Ship board AI carrier at the same time connected through out the digital graphical network.

"So, how's it going?" asked John standing in the middle of a big hall which is in fact the bridge with lots of hologram panels, consoles and wide displays. He was not in his armor but just in his body suit, looking tall and muscular. John was manipulating a hologram that displaced some information on an anomaly that an M33 outpost station - 'Atlantis' recently detected and forwarded to John.

Cortana who was on the back opposite end working on another hologram replied.

"This anomaly is strange. Astronomical data are inconsistent and off the charts" replied Cortana with confusion in her tone.

"Is it anything related to Precursor artifacts?"

The name Precursors drew a line in Cortana's mouth. Humanity doesn't have knowledge on Precursors. Only a few notable individuals know of them. John and Cortana had met and talked to one of the Precursor AI, Abaddon that resided in an ancient forerunner ruin. Apart from that, nothing too big of them.

She too assumed it to be something related to them. But as she was reviewing the data, she can say for sure that it wasn't.

"No John. It's not Precursor. The outpost station's readings indicate an energy surge on a large scale" replied Cortana.

John had always been a soldier despite the roles he take. He may be the military leader, but he's also the gun blazing and blade swinging soldier all the times who can get his hands bloody.

"Can you get any data on gravity ripples around it? Any casimir fluctuations in the vacuum that sensors can pick up?" asked John.

Now that's something not a soldier can think or ask about. But Spartan IIs in general are educated in both militaristic and scientific domains. Over the passing millennia, they learned and came across a great deal of knowledge that had them prepared for virtually any situation. So it's no surprise that John asked a question like this.

Cortana can actually see the exact data that John had asked for as she shifted the hologram.

"Yes. From my analyses, It could be a portal" said Cortana as she turned to see John.

John ran his right hand fingers over his chin thinking of the possibilities. He always knew what to do in situations like these. He was running calculations on his mind to look for all possible outcomes. For every assumption he made, he had 10 different solutions to engage the problem.

"Then this portal indicates either someone opened it for transport or-..."

"Or this could be a natural phenomenon. Those energy readings might be residues from other alternate dimensions. Besides, I go with the latter. Because, this doesn't show indications of slipspace rupture" Cortana finished it for John.

Yes, it could be. With prolonged research into slipspace, humans managed to discover other dimensions, each with their unique qualities and features. But John wasn't sure. So he decided to prepare the drill except that this is not a drill.

Ever since the human-covenant war and then Didact's attack and post covenant conflicts, humanity had been growing more militaristic. John always believed that at times, best offense can be a good defense.

John then open a display and started a comm session. After a few seconds, a Caucasian male in a blue officer armor with 5 stars appeared. It was Fleet Admiral Bradley, commanding the 7th, 8th, 9th and 17th carrier fleet to a total of 89 ships that included 4 Juggernaut class super carriers, 8 Titan assault carriers and several of Dawn destroyers, Infinity dreadnaughts, Autumn heavy cruisers. The fleet guarded a system located at the edge of the M33.

"Fleet Admiral Bradley reporting in sir!" the man saluted John.

"Admiral, Atlantis's sensors have confirmed an anomaly. It appears to be a portal" said John.

"Could it be transporting something? Like enemy fleets from previous encounters?" asked the Admiral scrutinizing the situation.

"One of the possibilities, Admiral. In that case, I want your assets prepped for potential contact at rally point sigma" said John while a cartographic marker appeared in the display besides Admiral's screen. John also sent him the data on that anomaly and astronomical coordinates for positioning.

"Alright Sir, Our fleet will be ready. Also I will request any other available asset from the nearby systems for aid if things escalate to code red" said the Admiral.

"Roger that. And I will have Cortana send a package to all available units in the Octavian arm" said John and then the comm was terminated. John then turned to Cortana and she looked back at him.

"The package is sent-...hmmmm-..." Cortana said half-consciously as if she was distracted. She keenly looked at John expressionless. John was confused but was clear that something was on her mind..

"What happened Cortana?" asked John.

"How long it's been?" asked Cortana. John didn't understand the question.

"How long what?" asked John.

"How long you had been doing this? This being a super jar head...For 60,000 yrs" said Cortana.

John was wondering why his companion brought forth this.

"So what?" asked the Spartan. Cortana was amazed that he wasn't shook by this question.

"You had been fighting for too long. You need to rest" said Cortana, with a little bit of concern in her voice. John then got into the underlying meaning of what she meant. Time was never a thing he considered passing. He was doing his job as long as he was able to.

"I keep doing, what I can do and what I liked to do and what I have to do. I don't have to keep auditing my profile" said John.

"But ever thought about taking a nap for a while. Come on! You know you can't keep doing this forever" Cortana stressed her words.

She had been with John for 60,000 years ever since she was upgraded constantly. John always saw her as a human friend getting past the thought that she was an incredibly smart AI. John might be stoic in his behavior and mentality, but never said never when listening to her ideas or opinions. In fact, he believes part of his luck comes from her.

John on the other hand stood silent, processing her words. Part of him agreed with what she said. It could be true at some point of time that he will forced to retire from this career. But it's not like he's gonna die out of aging. The aging process stopped for spartan IIs when their metaphysical powers surfaced out of their mind.

"It's not like I'm gonna die. So-..."

"That's not what I meant. You had been Humanity's military commander for 10,000 years. Under your supervision, the last 10 galaxies were colonized by after crossing paths with some advanced hostile civilizations. You led those wars to remarkable victory. But don't you think it's time for you step down. You haven't changed a long time" said Cortana frustrated with John's humor. She was even surprised that he's got it in him.

"What do you want me to do?" asked John. It's surprising to him that Cortana had brought this and even keep insisting on his personality.

But there's nothing to be impertinent about this. Spartan IIs were trained to peak of their physical and mental conditioning. This was a means to keep them in line in a overwhelming battle no matter how worse the shit can get deeper. They knew honor and discipline. They are perfectly aware of their tasks.

"What I've been telling for a long time. Remember the day I asked you a question about which one of us is actually a machine?" asked Cortana with a mild soothing voice.

John could never forget that. That was on Requiem, both left alone to fight the Didact on their own. Cortana was suffering from rampancy. When he lost Cortana in the end after sacrificing herself to save him, John was devastated. That was when he realized that despite being human, he was the machine. But things changed when Cortana was recovered back from the ship's remains on a Forerunner world called 'Genesis'.

"I do" John answered, his face tuning sour because those memories are still too painful to bear. But John gathered back his posture with his version of smile and walked towards Cortana towering 7'7" tall without armor.

"With great power, comes great responsibility and a little satisfaction. That's the reason why I do what I do" replied John. Cortana raised her eyebrow at the proverb or anything that counts for it.

"Wow! And who said that?" asked Cortana curiously with a smirk.

"I do" replied John stoically that made Cortana mildly laugh.

But this friendly conversation was short lived as it was stopped by an alarm. John and Cortana immediately worked on their holo displays.

"What is it?" asked John. Cortana after a few seconds manipulating the hologram,

"Shit! It's the portal. I am reading 600 of large vessels of unknown classification" she yelled.

"Time we got to work. Cortana, prepare all on board weapons and get premature firing solutions ready. If they make a hostile move, open fire" John ordered.

"Sure thing" she said and her hard light vanished.

Being a naval combat, John decided not to wear his Armageddon suit. He began working on the holograms as it displayed multiple vessels that was highlighted and marked with information flowing besides them. He then sent a warning package to Admiral Bradley. This was to save time in chatting over comm system.

There were different kinds of ships. All had one common feature. They were highly technological but also had alien hide like features in the hull with lots of protrusions.

John then opened a broadcasting transmission to the unknown parties.

"This is Commander Sierra-117 of the UGSC forces to unknown vessels. Identify yourself"

There was nothing. Not even a ping.

"I repeat to unknown vessels in the human territory, Identify yourself. If not, you will be declared hostile" ordered John. He don't have to worry about the language as he sent a digital package of English articulation pattern which any intelligence race can use to understand the language.

"One last time! Iden-..." John was cut half by the appearance of an unknown alien creature with partial skeletal face and it immediately started growling.

"YOU ALL HUMANS WILL DIE AS OUR MASTER WISHED. THE CHITAURI WILL BURN EVERY PLANET YOU LIVE" was all that John heard and he was totally confused.

"Chitauri!? Could it be a new unknown civilization?" thought John. Of course, he had never come across this before, not in 60 millennia.

"Cortana, you hearing this?" John securely asked.

"I do. Looks like these new comers needed warm welcome party and doesn't look enthusiastic" replied Cortana.

"How are the defences?" asked John.

"We are ready and good to go" replied Cortana.

By the time, the ships had already neared John's ship. And before he could spend another thought, all the ships began shooting their DE cannons. The vessel vibrated at the impact.

"Damn it!" cursed John as the Ship stats projected in front of John. The combined attack of the 600 ships took an incredible 19% shields off. John knew this was good and not so if he took an attack of this scale for 4 more times.

"Cortana, engage all particle cannons and missiles. We cannot take hits like these" John barked.

Soon the particle beam cannons were fired. The first attack tore through their ships, killing 50 immediately. But still 550 remained intact. John knew he had to do something and something quick.

He immediately inputted commands to maneuver the ship 75 degrees towards right of those ships approach trajectory. He knew that 550 ships closer can't turn to face his vessel without forming sufficient free space to manipulate their position. He took that to his advantage and then launched thousands of seeker and reaper missiles from multiple batteries. The missiles flew towards them but those Chitauri ships seems to have jamming systems to counter act the missile path, but still significant number of them made their way into the fleet and exploded to release dense compressed fusion plasma that instantly boiled away their hull and destroyed them. The numbers fell to 480, still a huge number.

But while taking the attacks, those ships were prepping for another attack and shot their cannon towards that behemoth. This attack took another 13% of his shields. still below 40 % total. But he can't be negligent.

"I have to finish this soon. Cortana, I'm reading 480 intact. Open the necessary number of particle cannons, Omega laser cannons and next missile salvos" ordered John.

"On it John" replied Cortana and in few seconds,

John's vessel open fired on all the Chitauri ships and soon they fell in significant numbers until only a handful of ships remained intact.

John had give these creatures credits for their fleet's resilience. They managed to scorch away 32 % shields with little damage to some inner ship decks. Their weapons and ship's hull were powerful and resilient. But he don't have to worry about human casualties as there's no one except John and Cortana. With hundreds and thousands of pieces of nothing but technology like weapons, vehicles, fighters, phantoms etc., to name a few.

Then once again the transmission opened and one of the surviving Chitauri of those ships growled.

"DON'T THINK THIS IS THE END! WE ARE MORE AND WE'LL COME EVEN BIG FOR YOUR DEMISE! OUR MASTER WILL SEE TO IT!" said the Chitauri as the display screeched. John was taken back by those words. He didn't feel right about this. He instantly felt something big and bad was gonna happen.

"He furiously hit some commands in a console to launch missiles and flood the enemy ships. In a few minutes, John watched as the enemy vessels were totally eliminated.

Then, silence filled the bridge as Cortana appeared back besides him.

"Who the hell are these Chitauri?" asked Cortana puzzled. John first assumed them to be new faction like the covenant ot even the newer covenant itself. But he shelved the idea as he knew that the covenant was completely dissolved. With his friend Arbiter Thel Vadam leading the Sanghelli.

The words still echoed in John's mind. He knew he had to do something to keep the galaxies safe.

"Cortana, prep a course to Charum hakkor. We're gonna deal with this in full attention. Some new enemies got our attention. M33's forces are more than enough to deal with large scale invasion" said John.

"So another committee?" asked Cortana sarcastically. John smirked and nodded his head.

"Right, plotting a course to Hakkor system. Slipspace drive engage in 3...2...1..." finished Cortana as she used a console to hit the slipspace drive. A big bluish white portal appeared covering the 260 kms tall ship and ship vanished and the portal closed in few seconds.

John then extended his arms. Then from the inbuilt portable micro slipspace container, the battle suit wrapped around John in seconds covering everything from neck to toe without helmet. John's armor was the most exotic looking and elegantly designed with dark grey with blue LED profiles and highlights. Inside the armor, John stands 7'10" and weighs 450 kgs. His strength depends on his mind's will. With metaphysical aspects of the armor, it is virtually indestructible.

"At the committee, we will decide, how best to approach this sit-..." John stopped talking as both observed electric sparks and flickering lights in the bridge. John and Cortana looked all round in tense.

"What the hell!" muttered John. Suddenly Cortana picked up something. She immediately saw a lot of red markers with warnings in a holo display. It showed readings about the slipspace. Something was not right about their travel.

"What's happening?" asked John. Cortana was glancing at the reading.

"Holy crap! There seems to be some fault with the slipspace transit" Cortana rushed.

"Any drive issue?" asked John.

"No, the drive's fine...It's...It's something else" said Cortana and all of a sudden, the ship felt a huge impact and violently shook for a second. John almost lost balance.

"What is happening?" John pressed his voice as the room slowly got dark with very little lighting and he felt a creeping effect. John's blood pumped fast. He felt a rush of adrenaline ready to react to anything. That's when he heard a deep rumbling sound and huge shadowy silhouette of a creature, more precisely an inhuman(Alienated) face that passed from one end of the bridge hall to another and vanished.

John and Cortana's facial expressions were ghostly pale. They had never witnessed anything horrified and sinistrical as this. They wanted to open their mouth to say something but couldn't. It was as if they had seen a ghost. Then slowly the lights came back and the systems were back online.

"I've never seen anything like that before! Was that someone?" asked Cortana.

"I'm not sure. But it caused me great discomfort" replied John articulating the words slowly.

Suddenly a holo display projected to show a failure report.

"John, we have exited Slipspace" said Cortana after analyzing.

"A premature exit?" asked John shrinking his temples.

"Yes, but the whole ship's fine and normal. Power systems, Slipspace drive, weapons and all decks smells green" replied Cortana.

John then opened another hardlight hologram to check for their location. To their shock, it was Sol system. their primary home system. The ship had been thrown millions of light years away directly to Sol. John and Cortana couldn't believe it. But still he felt safe because somehow they ended up in a friendly territory.

John opened up a UGSC Quantum comm channel to contact HighCOM. But before he could, Cortana broke her silence.

"Oh- ohh!" gasped Cortana.

"What was that?" asked John feeling concerned.

"Look at this" she said as she moved the holo display towards John. John caught the hologram to see complete profile of the Sol with a big difference. This Sol was completely empty. There wasn't any UGSC colony on mars, Jovian, Saturn moons. Above all, No orbital defense grids. This really shook John to the core.

"What the hell! What happened to our colonies and defenses. Why there's no defense fleet?" asked John.

"We are reading life only on earth. It's our people. But-...GOOD GOD!" she trembled.

"What is it?"

"I just managed to hack into a communications satellite of-..." as she said, her face desperate looking at him, "21st century". John didn't take that well. He thought that it was some systems error.

"Run system diagnostics. I think the FTL transit anomaly had tampered with our systems" said John denying her statement.

"Our ship's fine John. Something else had happened" said Cortana with a firmness in her voice. John didn't want to believe that.

"What did you get from that satellite?" asked John.

"It's really advanced for a 21st century tech. The first word with which I was pinged at the moment?...S.H.I.E.L.D, Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. An organization to monitor and contain threats from...META HUMANS?" said Cortana as she got a lot more confused as seconds passed.

John and Cortana shared a blatant stare towards each other. They had never heard of SHIELD or the meta humans.

"Something has gone wrong Cortana...Something has truly gone wrong" were the only words from John's mouth.

"I would say a possible temporal displacement, but there were no SHIELD in the 21st century. Even at the moment we speak, I'm reading terabytes of data from the satellite. Nothings matches our history. It's totally obscene and insanely wrong" said Cortana as she walked past John with her fingers running over her chin.

"What do you think it is?" asked John.

"This could mean only one thing" she said as she turned to look at John with clarity.

"We might have been displaced to another alternate universe. A universe where history is a culmination of totally different set of events" said Cortana.

John felt hard to believe, but humanity had already theorized and practically proved existence of alternate realities, dimensions and universes. Slipspace, Nexus, Denial of Locale, Trick geodesics, Natal void, Shunspace etc., are some of the alternate dimensions they discovered. But the problem here is, these regions behave unpredictably. If John and Cortana have ended up here, it's not going to be easy for them even to think of getting back to their place.

"While it's hard to absorb this theory. We know it's not a fiction anymore. We have already discovered a lot of places like this" said John.

"Thanks to brown" finished Cortana.

"What might have caused this accident?" asked John.

"If i'm right, it definitely had something to do with the anomalous portal we confronted" replied Cortana.

"And who knows if those Chitauri attacks our colonies again" John said sounding frustrated as he felt that things had escalated beyond his control.

"What else can you tell from the data you got from the satellite?" asked John. Cortana sighed and nodded disappointingly.

"A lot of things...things even you won't believe in" replied Cortana.

With that, it looks like John and Cortana in a big ship are trapped perfectly and it's going to be a while before they finds a way out.

 **...**

 **A/N: From now on, its the time for being super heroes.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Halo franchise.**

 **A/N: First of all** **"I WISH YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR"**  
 **Thank you for your support to this story.**

 **Borg collective** **: I think you got it quite wrong. First, The attackers were Chitauri, not the ships they rode. Each ship is slightly more than a kilometer long. The enemy vessel's weapons were a lot more powerful and a combined 600 ship's attacks can significantly damage a super carrier. Second, John's flagship was attacked by surprise before his vessel was set to combat red alert. The shield at that time was at the lowest setting, I MEAN "THE LOWEST" EVEN FOR THE SHIPS OF THEIR CLASS. But still the 600 powerful enemy vessels only managed to bring it down to 32%. So at full power, you do the math. Third, try reading the prologue one more time. Human energy shielding is more powerful than forerunner shielding. Fourth, John's flagship is the only ship that is crew less. Other Oblivion vessels have crew ranging from 100,000-200,000. I hope this might have cleared your doubts.**

 **Minecraft 93** **: Current mammoth replaces both the early mammoth and tank in abilities.**

 **Sparta 49** **: Nope, Scarlet witch is always Vision's girl. And John's voicing his concern much because of the responsibility he carry in his shoulders.**

 **As for romance, I need time to figure it out. But it won't be she-hulk as I had seen it a lot, so gonna look for somebody else.**

 _ ****One other thing, This story uses only some of the past story elements in Marvel comics. Not the entire events that happened since Marvel began until the recent events like 'Time runs out' and 'Secret wars 2k15'** Like I said, I wanted to keep my story grounded.**_

 **A/N: Next is to address the issue that John speaks too much. Guys, John-117 is no longer the Master chief we know. It's just a legacy. He's no longer the paid-to-shoot-not-to-talk person which may work if there were a lot of superiors ordering him around plus the fact that he's focused and reserved. But now, he leads human military in all 50 galaxies and his silence can only be understood by his fellow brothers and sisters, not the other humans. They needed regular conversation with him to take orders from him. With that being said, he's still the unique soldier which he always is. He's got that weird intellect as he always did back at 26th century. He's still stoic in the face of danger and as of now, he don't even acknowledge fear as he's got none.**

 **He talks and voice his concern because his role demands him to. Besides, its not like he hates to use his vocal cord.**

 ***** **SIDE NOTE** ***: In my fiction and imagination, John 117's face and facial features will be completely different from the lore, for eg., his hair won't be shaven or brown in color. Remember, bungie's explanation about not revealing chief's face to let players imagine it by themselves? I am following it here. Sorry to the hard-core fans.**

 **Chapter 3: The beginning of something**  
 **Edge of the solar system, near Charon...**

John and Cortana in their ship were stranded at the edge of their well known space, The SOL. But the place was not what they knew of. This SOL had nothing except life on Earth. Labyrinth just a few hours ago, fought 600 powerful vessels of each larger than a kilometer. But they were obliterated by John's ship easily. When they tried to get to Charum hakkor for an emergency defense committee, their slipspace transit got zapped and they were thrown into an unknown place or ironically, familiar one.

"John, there's nothing here. No ODPs, No home fleet, not even a ping from any nearby colonies" said Cortana feeling distressed. But John had always prepared himself for the worst.

"So are you sure that we no longer belong...in OUR place?" asked John with a hint of dilemma.

"Yes. The S.H.I.E.L.D satellite I hacked into shows that it's 2030 A.D. And as I said before, it is indeed an alternate universe" Cortana replied with firmness in her voice, looking at John while some holograms were lit up besides her.

John's mind was like being stranded in empty space with nothing in vicinity. If not for Halsey and Brown, John would have never believed in the Multiverse theory. His contact with the Abaddon convinced him to believe that fact at a certain point of time because he learned that the Precursors had seen the Multiverse. But that doesn't mean he's got the luxury to leave his place and keep it defense-less. Of course the human fleet is the mightiest, but not the people who are just flesh, living in the planet surface. John never tolerated casualties. He had this first hand experience of getting swarmed. He knew this might just be the beginning.

"We can't stroll here, Cortana. We need to get back and prevent further attacks" said John with all the concern.

"While I have knowledge in the multiverse theory, I ain't got the knowing of how to replicate the exact incident we had been through" replied Cortana.

While John didn't like the answer, he had to accept the fact. Nobody from his place had traveled between universes. But there had already been a speculation that Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole of UNSC back at 26th century, who led the biggest victory over covenant during the battle of Thermopylae might have slipped into any part of the universe or the multiverse after the anomalous slipspace jump he did within the Nova's gravity well, even assuming that he might be living a normal life elsewhere. It could be just a speculation or for real, who knows.

John sighed and talked.

"Then what are our options?" asked John feeling quite defeated at the moment.

"I think we need to ask for help from these people" said Cortana. John's face was puzzled and felt confused.

"But Cortana, aren't their technology inferior to what we have, given the info that it's 2030. How do you think they can help?" asked John. He wasn't rude when he said that. He stated the obvious.

Cortana let a smirk and then opened another hologram to display the fetched data from the satellite. She then segregated a few profiles which John stood silently and watched.

"These are some high profile individuals in THIS Earth" she began. She then zoomed up the first person. He was a man with anchor beard and mustache in an tweed jacket and stylish cooler. He was like between 40-45 in age.

"His name is Anthony Edward Stark or Tony for short, A genius, Billionaire and an Inventor. The primary line of business was weapons, but he abandoned them after realizing the destructive effects. His technologies are considered way too advanced for the whole humanity. He had created a lot of powered armors for himself. Goes by the alter ego 'Iron man', fighting out bad guys, even hostile aliens. Profile suggests that he possess knowledge and connections to alternate dimensions" she said.

John was really impressed to see the potential in this guy. Even though technologically far too inferior, he had made himself the pinnacle of human evolution in sophistication.

"A super hero?!...Interesting" replied the stoic John.

"There are a lot to tell you about him. But that's a story for another time. I'm gonna give the overview of some profile that we need as of now" said Cortana to which he nodded.

She then brought the next profile. This time, it was a man who had grandpa style white patch in his hair.

"This is Dr. Reed Richards and I don't brag when I say that he's our best shot to get us back home" said Cortana wide eyed. John glanced at his profile and came across the word,

" Mr. Fantastic?" asked John.

"Yes, he is the leader of his team Fantastic four. He and his team got their weird powers through exposure to cosmic rays. He is considered as one of the smartest egg head and the only one to travel to an alternate dimension and the first to theorize it's existence" said Cortana which piqued his interest.

"Which dimension are we talking about?" asked John.

"He called that place, 'Negative zone' and even they had faced powerful foes originating from there" said Cortana. John stood silent processing those.

He still couldn't believe in the idea of super heroes. Of course in his reality, people viewed Spartan IIs as heroes of humanity during the covenant war. But so are every soldier who gave their lives to make a difference. But that kind of heroism wasn't something that John saw here. Of course, they too fight to keep earth safe. The only thing is he couldn't perceive was that weird 'Super powers'. But in the corner of John's conscience, he don't see difference between them as Spartan IIs were normal humans turned into a walking wrecking machine.

"And this guy is more of a skeptic" said Cortana raising her left eyebrow.

"In what way?" asked John.

"He don't believe in magic" she said.

"Neither do I" John replied instantly.

"Well, then you are in for a surprise and disappointment" she said with a faint smile bringing in the next image. Next was a man who had mustache and goatee similar to Tony Stark. He too had grandpa patch like Reed Richards. He wore a long ornate full sleeved coat with a big necklace around his neck _**(Doctor Strange - TSS Animated movie costume)**_.

"His name is Dr. Stephen Strange, world's most brilliant neurosurgeon and an arrogant one too. He lost his arms in a car accident and lost his fortune to find a cure. In the end, he traveled to Tibet to a place called 'Kamar-Taj'. There he met a spiritual healer called the Ancient one who taught him the ways of mystic arts and opened his eyes and brain to existence of alternate dimensions and realms. He is now termed as the sorcerer supreme of this dimension" said Cortana who then turned to look at John with a sarcastic smile.

John nodded disapprovingly,

"What? Don't believe that?" asked Cortana to which John simply stood stoic.

"Cortana, We need to get back...Soon. But all you show are some fairy tale spooks!" said John with seriousness. Cortana sighed and talked.

"You are no fun, John. But if you are so much desperate to get your hands dirty, then you are gonna need their help. This Stephen Strange knows more about the multiverse than anyone does at this point. They are our best shot" said Cortana this time equally irritated.

John still wasn't convinced. What Cortana said might be true. But as an accomplished leader, he needs to think thrice before taking a step. Even now he's not sure how they are gonna react to his presence let alone putting trust being a long shot.

"Cortana, if you have the data regarding our transit anomaly, why don't you calculate to replicate the incident?" asked John. That was indeed a right question, but he's about to know that things don't seem easy in action.

"I can"

"How much time you need?" asked John eagerly.

"How about a 50,000 years?" said Cortana. John was dumb struck with her response. He stood silent thinking whether this was some sort of joke.

"Cortana?"

"John you don't understand. Replicating that incident is next to impossible. Even if I did calculate, the probability that we'll end up in our place is less than 1%." said Cortana. She carried so much weight in her words.

This time John was convinced that he need to re-think his strategy. He may need their help as Cortana said. Somebody had to take an initiative.

"John, I know how it feels like" said Cortana. She can understand his cautiousness but he need to think of the next step. She wanted John's leap of faith not to end just with a stunt he pulled at Cairo, but also in extending trust towards people. But what the hell, John's got only limited people in his circle of trust.

"Right, We'll do as you said. I only want our place to be safe" said John in a low voice.

"Don't worry, there are others whom you trust your life with. They will take care in your stead" said Cortana trying to cheer him up. John let an evasive smile. Of course, she was right in that regard. Humanity has the best leaders and fighters to defend her. His fellow Spartans and people like Hood and Lasky.

"Right, is this the only information we got?" asked John getting to the point.

"No John. I've got a lot. Sending everything to your armor's computer. You can learn everything in the mean time we reach Earth" said Cortana.

"Good. I want you to mask our profile. Keep everything down, any unwanted systems except the engine" ordered John.

"You got it" said Cortana began working with the holograms.

...

John then teleported out of the bridge and reached another deck above, a 50 kms from the bridge. He then took a gravity platform and activated a console. The place he stood was humongous. He watched hundreds of Argus drones in patrol. While the platform levitated and move forward towards the next station, he watched as automated repair drones working on something. He can also see lot of vehicles, weapons rack etc. These are something he can use at anytime. When on ground missions, John usually brought his ship and provided immense aid to the soldiers under his command. John might be the supreme commander, but he's a spartan and will always do what a spartan does, fighting on the ground side.

At last, his platform reached another station. He walked over the hall way and reached an elevator. He activated the holo panel and it took him to 20th floor from there. The elevator door opened to reveal an highly decorated hall. It perfectly fitted a Commander. The hall had everything it should. To is right is the bathroom and to his left is his gym. At the opposite end was a cryo tube sized personal hibernation capsule or Entropy dilation chamber.

John unwrapped his armor into the slipspace and then went to his personal gym to begin his work out routine with just his bodysuit on him. John benched 2.5 tons with ease for 30 counts. Then increased it to the max of 6 tons. After completing his full workout for 2 hours, he wiped himself.

 _2 hours later..._

He then removed his body suit. John was well built and highly muscular. Over 60,000 years of improvement he now looks like the pinnacle of Spartan's peak evolution. He then entered the bathroom to have a warm shower. After cleaning himself, he put on his body suit again. The body suit he currently wears is the most advanced incorporated with powerful micro and nano scale technologies. Most of all, the body suit is laced with trillions of artificial neurons that act as metaphysical amplifier.

He went to the kitchen to have his regular high protein food, Steak and cottage cheese.

After finishing his meal, he went to his table and sat in the chair. Then he touched the glass table's corner to trigger a hard light hologram computer in front. He then connected it to his personal quantum computer's memory banks. The next split second, all the files that Cortana downloaded appeared as a stack. John used the holo console to select the files and started reading it one by one.

Till the moment before John never believed in meta humans and superheroes until getting to watch the show. He was flabbergasted with each and every information.

He read every piece of available information about this SHIELD, Avengers, Fantastic four, the mutant faction called the X-Men, Spider-man etc., He viewed complete profile about every member of the faction. He also was fascinated by the Inhuman race based on the moon at a blue area called Attilan. He then learned about some bad and worst guys like Doctor Doom , Apocalypse, Dormammu, Task master, Doctor Octopus, Mandarin, Loki etc., Though the revelation of actual existence of Norse gods really confused him as he couldn't perceive it as a truth yet seeing it with his own eyes. What really made John to feel awkward was that some of them had potential to do good yet rather chose the path of evil.

One particular man he was quite fascinated as a soldier was this legendary soldier from the World War II era. Cptn. Steve Rogers a.k.a Cptn. America. He was a super soldier who fought against HYDRA forces in 1940s and ended the WWII with the victory for Allied forces. He was a super soldier which reminded John of himself. He was able to easily relate Rogers to himself on one common ground. Both fought for what they believed in and they succeeded. He then went on to study how he survived further to join the Shield and the Avengers.

John let an evasive smile and did a little salute to the fellow soldier, a sign of respect.

But what really piqued his interest was the information of certain highly advanced alien races like the Shi'ar, Skrulls, Kree, Eternals etc.,. He got into the insights as to who they were and how they all got connected with these Earth based superheroes and some of the worst conflicts ever recorded.

The most intriguing were how Shi'ar got involved with the X-Men. As a missing link, John found that one of the mutant named Jean grey had her powers overwhelming her which allowed her to tap into the sentient psychic force called 'The Phoenix'. Seeing her as a threat, the Shi'ar tried to subdue Jean which brought them into the conflict.

"But why would Shi'ar care if someone on Earth lose control of themselves?" thought John who still couldn't figure out the link. But the next slide revealed the information.

The Shi'ar worship the Phoenix as their God. But also knew that the Phoenix is a malevolent force and it doesn't resist to kill. Don't see difference between good and evil and never shown remorse. So they had no choice but to kill Jean grey before she becomes an omega level mutant to threaten the universe only to fail in that attempt. But as of now, the X-Men and Shi'ar have a good relationship even though not a healthy one.

Even though John didn't like it, a part of him agreed with Shiar's decision. But John rejected it the next second. Because he believed that one person can make a significant difference and changed his perception that Jean was not a threat, but a powerful addition to the X-Men, a similar view he had about his old friend Avery Johnson regarding his fate at the revelation of him being the key to flood immunity.

John realized that though far inferior to his reality's humanity, still they packed a pretty powerful punch, Shi'ar technology was indeed advanced, even almost on par with the Forerunners in every field. He also read that these beings are in possession of something called the 'M'kraan' crystal. But politically, Shi'ar was highly corrupt as there were some like Vulcan, D'ken, Deathbird etc., doing anything to capture the Shi'ar throne.

The next alien race he got through were Skrulls and Kree. He found Skrulls so cunning as they are masters in shape shifting. Too many times they had attempted to invade Earth using clandestine methods only to stopped at it's infancy by the Avengers. John then analyzed their genetics and found out that somehow their natural evolution had helped them to mimic a bio-organic material, in their case, the living cells. Anyhow, John wasn't thrilled to see that coming.

"If I get across them, I have to be careful" thought John. Apart from that Skrull technology was advanced and had grown on a significant scale. He then learned that their race almost controls the entire Andromeda.

Next is the Kree. He learned their physiology, genetics and the technological prowess. He then learned that it was their experimentation that gave rise to the beings called the Inhumans. John instantly disliked the Kree for their nature of slave based ruling. He then went on to read some report of how brutally they treated their slaves. John never tolerated people like them. If he were there, he would instantly kill them as it's against humanity's belief of equality. Then he read about their war with the Skrulls and Shi'ar and how Earth got dragged in to the Conflict. But he also noticed some noble individuals like Captain Marvel. He then came across a woman in a traditional Air force uniform reading, Carol danvers who got genetically Engineered by Captain Marvel in an attempt to save her life from a life threatening explosion. John then learned that all those times, Captain Marvel had been in human disguise as Doctor Walter Lawson to study Earth. Ms. Marvel had joined the Avengers. John realized that Captain Marvel could be the only good person he might ever find among the Kree.

Some of the notable individuals he managed to see through other alien races including Shi'ar were Gladiator, Lilandra, Super Skrull, Titanus, Thanos, Kree Supreme Intelligence, Annihilus from Negative zone, the place Cortana mentioned that Reed Richards had traveled to and then others etc.,

Then John went through a lot of information about the other factions and people like Black panther, Defenders etc.,and if there's one thing he felt by then, It's that this reality wasn't that different than his except the fact about existing super powered heroes, those who were none other than fun tales. Although he took sometime to go through the kingdom of Wakanda which he found appealing. People who lived like ancient tribes but in possession of technology too advanced for contemporary Earth science.

John had been doing this for the next few hours. But at one point of time, He scrolled further and the next name he read threw him to fits. His pupils dilated at the sight of the alien race he never thought he would come across, especially here.

"What the hell!?" John cursed under his breath.

He then immediately contacted Cortana.

"Cortana, come in!" John ordered. Her image appeared in the Table top Holo-display near by the alien info. Cortana clearly understood that John was troubled by something but surprisingly she already knew what it was. John looked at her and asked.

"When did you know?" asked John, his face fixed towards the display. Cortana sighed and responded.

"Just when I hacked into the SHIELD's satellite and THAT is the reason why I told you that the people down there are our best shot"

"How the hell those CHITAURI are here!? What did we miss?" asked John going through their information. He learned that those Chitauri are biological opposites to the Skrulls.

"The data here suggests that the Chitauri are related to the Skrulls. The genetics show minimum diversity" said John.

"Exactly. These Chitauri were the same ones that attacked us near the Triangulum" said Cortana.

"Then you are right. I have a feeling that this was no accident. The Chitauri must have known what they were doing" said John with each every presumption getting into his mind.

"Not only that, the info here suggests that they are not as advanced as the Kree or the Skrull. And the ships they used don't even match what they actually possess here according to the data in the satellite" said Cortana.

"Then it means somebody must have provided them ships of such power levels for the attack. But why? Who knows about our place?" queried John running his fingers in the chin, standing up and walk away from the table, confused with all that's happened so far.

"I have no idea. But Dr. Richards or Tony Stark may provide us answers to that" said Cortana.

"Meanwhile do you remember the shadowy figure that moved within our ship's bridge?" asked John about the incident that happened in the bridge while in slipspace, where even the lights turned off and flickered. That figure made John to feel creepy and hostile. It troubles him even now.

"Remember? it's still haunting my matrix. Why do you ask?" asked Cortana. Now there was a complete silence as John was processing a lot in his mind with his assumptions and cross referencing it with what actually happened. He then finally spoke his mind.

"I think...We just fell into a trap with out our knowledge. I'm sure that the anomaly wasn't natural. Somebody did that. Somebody tampered with out slipspace transit-..." said John in his grim tone creating a atmosphere of distress.

He then slowly walked over the table and tapped the holo display to play the recording of the strange incident that happened in the bridge. John then paused where the shadowy figure appeared. He was keenly looking at it with glaring intention.

"And It's definitely got something-...to do with this...Thing!" John concluded by pointing his index finger towards the paused image that held the shadow.

Cortana didn't know what to say. But she too agreed with John as even she knew that the figure appeared when they were in Slipspace and that could be the obvious conclusion.

But the conversation was instantly cut short by an alarm. John looked at her for an explanation.

Cortana was looking nearby from her side and after a few seconds, she looked at John feeling ill-natured.

"John, a huge fleet has dropped out their version of FTL near by earth. And...There's this one big ship, must be a mother" said Cortana.

"Can you get a read?" asked John who prepped himself to face the new threat.

"Bingo! It's the same ship we encountered. The signatures are a 100% match" said Cortana.

"Damn! It's them" John cursed under his breath, "How many?" asked John.

"Enough for an Invasion" replied Cortana.

"Prep a short jump. We are gonna engage the enemy" ordered John.

"I knew you were gonna say that" said Cortana and vanished from the display screen.

John walked towards the exit.

"It's still our home world no matter where" thought John.

...  
 _14 hours ago..._

 **Sep. 15, 2030 AD**

"HURRAYYYY! YAYYY!..." The people of Washington D.C were roaring and cheering in joy at the sight of their Playboy model and the super hero. There were party poppers flying in the air that almost blocked the vision of the evening Sky.

At Washington D.C, It was an important day for the people. Because Tony Stark, Billionaire Inventor and founder of Stark Enterprises was conducting his 25th Stark Expo to reveal his next generation technology to the world for the betterment of Humanity and also have the other scientists and young Engineers to share their innovation to the world. Tony does this to keep up with the legacy his father created long ago and for his own promise he made to keep the world a better living place.

It was not only the civilians but also the brightest minds all around the world who admired and got inspired by Tony's inventions that also included Dr. Richards, Wakandan king T'Challa, Hank Pym, Bruce banner etc.,

"TONY! TONY!" were the chants of thousands and thousands of people gathered for the expo. Ladies in particular in the crowd were so eager to touch him and get a photograph with their supermodel. And there was the hard rock BGM that totally rocked the whole place. It was so alive and anyone who watches it are sure to get goosebumps.

And then there were the cheer leaders who were giving him a great welcome dance.

"Huh, looks like Tony's never short of fans I guess?" said Banner with a laugh.

"Need to find out what makes it tick for him" said Reed who was equally amused. The arena had 4 huge television screens for the people to view from the back end.

At the center of the stage was the billionaire himself in his costly blazer. Dazzling colored flashlights sweeping the stage.

Tony stark was enjoying them all, waiving his hands to the crowd present with that smile on his face. And then the fireworks that lit up the dark evening sky. This whole party crash went on for the next 10 minutes.

Then it began to settle down with a big bang.

"All Right...All right! Let's settle down folks. It's good to see you all" said Stark cheerfully.

There was a big clap for that from the crowd.

"Well, After this bombastic party crashing fun, All gotta say is...WELCOME-...No no no-...before that I need to do something"

"Ugh...somebody take a picture of me and the cheerleaders, need to stick it up in the wall" said Tony to which the cheer leaders plunged towards him and grabbed his arm in joy for the evening 5 second pose. Then a photographer came and took a picture of them.

"Well, call me tomorrow" Stark whispered quick to one of the girl to which she blushed and then they all disbanded from the stage.

After that Stark took a deep breath and then looked upon the people.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to my 25th Stark EXPO!" said Stark to which the huge video screen revealed few images and running frames. It was well received by the crowd.

"You all know what it means to be in the Expo. This event serves as the reminder for all of us what it means...to be one as humanity and progress forward into the evergreen and healthier future and make this world a better place to live in"

"At least that's what I do it for. This event is for everyone. It's beyond creed, caste, race, religion, sex..." Tony said followed by a pause giving time for the others to understand his statement.

"What I see in this crowd is the people from all corners of the world, from all walks of life...With a singular goal in mind- "Jeez! I wanna set things right!"

"And Stark expo is the place where young minds like you get the opportunity to look up to what my company can offer to the betterment of this world" said Tony instantly beginning the next line.

"But It doesn't end with me. I am just the beginning and you...guys are the 'SHAPER OF THE FUTURE' " Tony finished which again received claps.

"I'm looking forward from the students of all institutes around the world in submitting your ideas that can shape up the said future to the Stark Enterprises and if it's good, you will receive internship and scholarship to pursue your dreams" Tony said which received a good applause. People really admired his nobility in helping the young minds.

"With that said, In this expo, I'm about to reveal the next stage in the evolution of clean energy technology as part of the main event"

"So would you allow me to present...GENERATION 8 ARC REACTOR!" Tony said loud and then a big hologram of the reactor got displayed at the center of the stadium which received huge round of applause.

"Wow! So this is what Tony's been up to" said Hank who was impressed Stark's new invention.

"Indeed he is good at giving surprises" said T'Challa in his Wakandan accent.

"Tony said something about a revolution in clean energy for the world back then, Now I get it" said Reed to which other nodded in agreement. Tony continued as he revealed the image.

"This will the world's most compact reactor ever built. It's been designed to assimilate with any system be it as a large as a country or be it as small as your packages" said Stark which drew a loud laugh from the crowd. Even Tony laughed at his own remarks.

"It uses the advanced Quantum Enhancer that multiplies the power output unlike any previous designs created before. Also it uses the new chilled Ion cooling system for stabilization. All integrated in to a module like..." Tony said as a hologram of the GEN 8 Arc reactor appeared in his palm..."THIS" finished Stark.

"And now we have changed the rules, We are about change the goddamn WORLD!" yelled Tony, once again earning a round of applause. The hologram disappeared from his palm. Tony was now serious as he looked at the crowd. Of course, while Tony's got a great humor, he's got some sense of justice and morality. Internally, he too was happy that he did something to contribute to this world.

"Well now that the party's over, it's time for lending some personal space to anyone who wishes to speak "ENGLISH'-...back at Stark tower, 15th floor"

"Thank you people for making this event great, ADIOS AMIGOS!" saluted Stark. After a few minutes of buzz, the stadium began to disband after the expo ended after a good couple hours. The crowd began to leave the stadium who are guided by Stark's personal security forces.

...

By this time, Reed, T'Challa, Hank, Banner came to see Stark who just got off the stage. Then all the 5 were walking towards the exit.

"So this is what you had been working on?" asked Hank to which Tony smirked.

"Two weeks ago when you sent us your equations for Quantum electrodynamic stabilization to cross reference your analyses, I was wondering why would you care about something like that now. To say , It was hell of a surprise" said T'Challa where the others agreed with a nod.

"Who did you expect me to give? Doctor Doom? Come on!" said Stark to which Reed chuckled.

"So congrats Tony, You have created a revolution" said Banner with a smile.

"Ah, don't sweat jolly green! I am doing what I wanted to. That's why I shut down my weapons business back in the early days not wanting people to ruin themselves with what I've created" said Stark.

"So where to next?" asked Reed

"You guys need to join me at the Stark tower now" said Stark.

"I am sorry Tony. But I must return to Wakanda. I have much to do. I am already late" said T'Challa. Others understood his urgency.

"Then your highness, We will meet someday" said Hank.

"Definitely. Farewell my brothers" said T'Challa as he went in his way.

"Need wings?" asked Stark. T'Challa turned to look at Stark with a smile.

"I've got my own" he replied and proceeded to the exit.

After a few seconds, Tony spoke.

"So what about you guys?" asked Tony.

"For the next 12 hours we got nothing" said Banner.

"Me too but I promised Sue, I would take her to Hawaii tomorrow. But I got some time for now" said Reed.

"I will come, perhaps this is a change after constant battles with the baddies" said Hank.

"Very well, I have my jet parked in the runway. Lets move" said Stark as the other three nodded and walked out of the stadium.

...

 **Stark Tower...**  
 **Sep 16, 10 hours after the expo...**

Tony, Reed, Banner and Hank were having lengthy conversations with the young entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. They were sharing their knowledge among themselves. This was truly a great initiative and because of people like Tony Stark, opportunities never cease to exist at any given point of time.

As they were talking for 2 hours straight, the 5 superheroes got some time to spend among them.

"I forgot to ask you something. How did you achieve this?" asked Reed which got Tony confused.

"I don't quite get it" said Tony.

"You yourself said that ARC reactor can never be made that compact as you demonstrated. But now?" asked Hank feeling both curious and suspicious. Others had the same feeling.

Stark's face turned serious and he glanced around him for a moment and then waived his head to follow him to some place of privacy. After they got to the next room, Tony began to talk.

"I was right about that until I managed to find-..." said Tony as he kept the wine glass in the near by table,

"J.A.R.V.I.S, show our friends what we got" said Tony as J.A.R.V.I.S, Tony's AI brought a hologram of a strange looking Crystal that was shining blue.

"This" finished Stark pointing his finger towards the display.

The odd thing about that Reed, Hank and Banner found was that the crystal represented perfect crystallographic structure with no flaws in the lattice distribution. The scientists in them woke with a bang as they were awestruck with the information about the crystal's nature.

"Is that even possible?" asked Banner who had his eyes wide.

"Never seen a crystal-...This-...Perfect!" said Hank struggling to speak. Reed couldn't even begin where to start his calculations.

"Where did you find this?" asked Reed who was equally dumb. The hologram then shifted to display a long structure which was then revealed to be a derelict space ship of rather curious design.

"A Ship? An Alien ship?" asked Reed looking at Tony.

"I found this ship in Iceland. Radioactive dating shows that the soil and ice samples around them are 100,000 years old" said Tony who then laughed.

"You won't believe if I told you that the ship is really advanced and doesn't match any profile of any alien race we knew of in this known universe" said Tony. Reed who has greater knowledge on alien beings tried to calculate the possibilities. Reed had never seen anything like that. It was as if it roared the word, 'Power'.

"It took me a hell of a time to hack into the doors. And then this Tin man, Ultimo" said Stark with frustration.

"Ultimo? You mean Mandarin was after the ship too?" asked Hank in shock. Of course, Mandarin was one of the prime enemies of iron man who possess 10 magical rings of power which were in fact advanced technologies stolen from another derelict vessel in the Chinese death valley.

"Yes, but thanks to my bleeding edge, I managed to have it kick the bucket" said Stark.

"Then?" asked Banner.

"Then I found a chamber which looked like engine room for the ship and a stasis pedestal at the center of the room, connected to a machinery what I assume to be an FTL drive" said Stark displaying another hologram of the drive besides the crystal.

"So what did you find in this crystal" asked Hank.

"Initial tests showed that the crystal's capable of manipulating energy density on a seriously grand scale" he said as he brought the results besides the crystal's image.

The scientists were easily able to see the running equations of space-time curvature and energy density and it's relation.

"Tony, those calculation point out that the crystal is capable of manipulating space-time by altering local energy density. How something like that can even exist?" asked Reed who was astounded by the readings.

"I'm wondering the same and I understand how it's related to the ship's FTL drive coz that too involves 4D metrics" replied Banner. Stark nodded in agreement.

"So let me deduce...You used the crystal in your new ARC reactor?" asked Hank on a hunch.

"My thorough scan revealed that this crystal has exceptional energy density altering ability sufficiently at any power level we manage to squeeze out. This could be the most powerful ARC reactor ever built with that crystal acting as the core" said Stark.

"Are you sure you didn't miss anything? Is it safe?' asked Reed who voiced his concern.

"Besides, to which race does that ship belong to? You said it's 100,000 years old" said Banner who was thinking hard for possible options.

"I don't know. But the ship's advanced and there are places I couldn't get into certain levels with any of my breaching programs. Some places remain hidden" said Stark.

"And I guess you are gonna use the crystal in your armor too?" asked Hank.

"Guessed well. My new Achilles armor has state of the art technology that I could possibly think of in terms of both durability, work load and the weapons. The only thing it needs is..." Tony said as he touched his chest where once an ARC reactor existed before being permanently removed by Extremis.

"Since the crystal can maintain any level of power, Achilles is helluva lot stronger, has energy shields, DE weapons, Repulsors with high energy output and thrusters for supersonic flight and most important, The armor is assembled through nanite swarms. But still it's gonna take 3 days to complete" said Tony while others raised their eyebrows in his accomplishment.

"But I'm rather curious of what that ship's origin is. It might be safe if we secured before it falls into some wrong hands" said Reed with seriousness in his face. But in fact he said that by keeping doctor Doom in his mind as he always pokes his nose into things like this.

"While we can work on that, mean while we got a party to crash-..." said Tony

 _**RUMBLING SOUND-...TREMORS-..**_

There was a sudden huge impact in the building and it shook everyone only to be felt and dreaded by everyone. The 4 heroes were looking towards one another bilious. Soon the place started to feel hostile. And some people started to ask the heroes about what's happening. Stark wanted to have the situation under the control. So they all consoled the people there to remain calm and asked them to stay inside the building.

"What is that?" asked Hank instantly reacted to the situation.

"J.A.R.V.I.S?" called out Stark.

"Sir, we have a big problem, Stark satellite is reading unknown alien vessels exiting their FTL near earth" replied the AI. The four's face turned dark.

"Holy shit!" muttered Banner.

Suddenly Reed's PDA beeped. Reed checked to find Sue, his wife and sister to his brother in law Johnny storm.

"Sue, what's happening?" asked Reed.

"Reed, we are under attack. The whole world's under attack by alien vessels of unknown origin" replied Reed's wife in distress.

"Alright, gather the others, I'm heading to Baxter" said Reed and cut the channel. Then he looked at Stark.

"Stark, it's hell all over again"

"I know. Good luck, See you on the other side" said Stark. Reed looked at the others and nodded and went to the courtyard as he had already summoned the fantasti-car.

Then Stark's holographic PDA beeped. It was Captain America.

"Tony, get to the top floor. We've got homework. Lot's of em. The whole world's getting swarmed" said the Stars and striped Avenger.

"I know. Me, Banner and Hank will be there fast" said Tony and cut the call. He then looked at Banner and Hank. Both belonged to the Avengers and so they reside in the Stark tower.

"Time to suit up guys" said Tony as the others nodded, they all went to the elevator to plan their move.

As the Avengers plan their next step so does the other super heroes that protect the earth to fight the invading forces.

And there's a powerful someone out in space who had planned to do the exact same thing.

 **...**

 **A/N: I hope you all enjoyed. See you in 2018.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Halo franchise.**

 **A/N: Okay, I will the address the issues regarding the human military vehicles.**

 **Guest** **: I know the actual sabre from the halo franchise, that being a gun ship. But in my story, sabre is a ground light recon vehicle. I hope this clears your doubt.**

 **jackmaner126** **: Humans are hyper advanced in 62nd millennia. They have simply merged utilities of different vehicles. And do you still think maneuverability matters to them anymore? No! And one Mammoth is a multi-utility vehicle that can do more than what a tank and sabre could do together. Mammoth's Plasma mortars can deal helluva damage and the heavy pulse laser guns/cannons take up the role of tank's main cannon. Sabre is a light recon but a significantly powerful vehicle. Though not on par with mammoth, still, it's shielding is too hard to crack. So Sabres are more than enough.**  
 **The Mantis warmaster is the biggest tri-pedal exo-suit worn by soldiers and can take down multiple scarabs. It can easily survive an attack from the covenant Kraken itself and manage to take down one. With this exo-suit, humans doesn't need scarab or kraken. It's always the quality and not the quantity.**  
 **Spartan laser is a terribly obsolete technology.**

 **minecraft93** **: Regarding the vessel, You will see it soon enough.**

 **Chapter 4:**

Stark, Banner and Hank all reached the top most floor of the Stark tower where the three made contact with the others who were already present, Captain America, Black widow, Hawkeye and Falcon. By the time they arrived, the four were already working on the hologram that displayed a lot of images regarding the attack on Earth. There were also projections on the strange ships that appeared near their planet.

"Shit! What are those ships? Or at least who do those belong to?" asked the frustrated Falcon.

But before the others could answer, there came a voice from their back.

"Definitely not seen before...JARVIS, what do we got?" asked Stark who hurried towards his team members. His AI projected another hologram of the huge mother ship that scaled up to 30kms across.

"Sir, the ships are off unknown profiles but-..." the AI paused to get everyone's attention. They wondered what it was that Jarvis found odd that was clearly evident in his voice.

"What is it JARVIS?" asked Steve only to hear something he never liked to.

"But the occupants are Chitauri" finished the AI. Everyone were stunned to hear that and their eyes widened in terror.

They had already faced the Chitauri, but they very well knew that those aliens never possessed powerful technologies like these. While the Chitauri considered themselves equal to the Skrulls, the latter considered them only as terrorists. So to see these aliens getting their hands on ships this big and powerful weapons was hugely disturbing.

"The Chitauri shouldn't be in possession of such power" said Hank Pym in disdain.

"But right now we need to shelf that because the moment we speak-..." Banner said as he went near a hologram to work with. Then it displayed Earth and some golden markers at some places on the planet,

"The satellite reading shows the Chitauri are invading at 8 locations around the globe" finished Banner.

"Key locations, as they are points of greater importance. Some scientific and some are military" Black widow added her thoughts.

"Then they are trying to strategically eliminate us by taking our strengths" said Captain America with his ever vigilant mind.

"This could be bad. But I'm also reading lots of feed from the Triskellion" said Hawkeye and just as he mentioned, Director Nick fury's image appeared in the hologram calling on the team.

"Speak of the devil!" muttered Stark who then answered the call.

"Director Fury!" saluted Captain Rogers, though not the actual salute, as the others got near the holo-display to look at their supporter.

Nick fury though cautious about the walking super powered beings on Earth, he was one of the reasons for the formation of the Avengers. He also helps the other young up and coming superheroes like Spider-man, (Kamala khan), Agent Venom, White tiger, Nova(Sam alexander, son of Nova centurion of the Nova corps). Fury as of now highly supports the superheroes and often act as pencil pusher in case of unavoidable, unforeseen collateral damage to public property while fighting the super villains.

"How's your vessel holding?" asked Tony.

"Not too good. It's only a matter of time before we get swarmed by these Chitauri. I don't know what the fuck do they want from us now!?" yelled Fury in frustration. Of course, he would be pissed off as it's a pain in the ass for him to deal with alien invasion. It was only 5 years since the previous invasion by the Skrull and it already made a huge dent in the city and the economy.

"What's the status of the others?" asked Black widow readying her shock gauntlets and batons specially designed and improvised by Stark.

"The X-Men, Fantastic four and all the others including Spider-man and some of our 'Trainees' have spread across the attack locations to stall the enemies. Danvers helping the Attilan. His Majesty at Wakanda and his armies are managing I guess" said Fury where Hawkeye picked up instantly,

"That-...leaves us in Newyork. So bad shit's happening everywhere and here I'm thinking about getting a vacation to Florida beach with nice hot babes!" rebuked Clint to which others simply glared at him for not taking the situation seriously. But Hawkeye had to say something to lighten himself up.

"What?" asked Clint innocently.

"You get your ass buried under the beach sand if you don't stop those aliens!" said Fury in a stoic angry tone. Hawkeye grunted and sighed in response, rubbing his forehead with his left arm.

"What about Thor? We can't reach him for months" asked Banner. That was true as it had been many months since they last saw the Norse God of Thunder. Its too unusual for an Avenger to be absent in the team for a long time.

"Last time we saw him, he said something's been brewing up in Asgard and that Odin needed him desperately. So he's out of this picture for now" replied Stark who was aware of the certain fact about Thor's situation. Others weren't that delighted to hear that as Thor was one of the strongest link with in the Avengers along side Hulk.

"Right then. Fury, I hope you can handle yourself" said Hank as he readied his cybernetic helmet.

"I do Hank. The President has called up the military aid in fighting them. Rhodes is providing his aid from NORAD HQ as much as he can" said Fury which brought Stark a moment of thought about his friend Rhodey. He knew his friend would have sprung into action before themselves. Of course, it's the military that always answers the call first.

"I, on the other hand managing to stop them at the skies"... "Things look bleak from here, but the ultimate survival is something only you can guarantee. Good luck!" said Fury calmly and closed the communication.

While this conversation was over, they could feel the rumble in the Stark tower as Rogers and Hank went outside in the balcony to look at the very mess the city got plunged into. They watched thousands of alien fighter crafts piercing the skies and wrecking havoc. The beautiful city was dreadful to watch burning with flames.

"Shit! This is bad, real bad-..." said Rogers in disgust and in split second,

"INCOMING!" cried Hank as he pushed Rogers and both got out of way as a fighter shot multiple energy rounds on wherever they were standing and the place suffered a mini explosion. Banner and Falcon went on to help them get back to their feet.

Damn! No point standing here. Let's kick some alien booty!" said Falcon.

"Avengers! Assemble!" Said Captain America as he grabbed his uni-fighter and flew away from the building.

"Well, I hope my current armor is more than enough" muttered Stark as he pressed a button in his wrist and in just a second, his whole body wrapped itself by billions of nanites, the bleeding edge armor.

"See you guys" waved Tony and he flew away. At the same time, Hank had used his helmet to summon flying insects. He then shrunk to smaller size with the help of Pym particles and flew away by boarding one insect.

"Looks like you and me. We will fight them from the ground" said Natasha.

"And also help the civilians down there" said Banner to which both nodded. Then the two boarded their uni-fighters and left the building.

Bruce was standing alone taking a look inside. He then walked to the outside to watch the situation escalating to whole new level. There was both alien fighters and some medium sized ships.

This very much reminded him of the Skrull invasion they faced in 2025 and to make matters worse, that time, Super skrull and Paibok too came down. But even amidst the mutual hatred, Hulk and Ben Grimm defeated them together...'Narrowly'. And the collateral damage they caused forced the government to order the SHEILD and the other Avengers to restrain and bring the Hulk to solitary confinement and that made Hulk even more mad as he felt betrayed despite helping saving the planet and managed to give a significant beat down to the army forces who used advanced technologies secretly bought from A.I.M, that were sent to fight him. The forces were led by none other than the then corrupted General Glenn Talbot who had his own agenda.

The Avengers didn't understand why they were so focused to restrain the hulk all of a sudden. Collateral damage was something that's to be expected in the first place when forced to tackle an invasion and especially in fighting beings like Super Skrull and Paibok. They even felt biased as they never accused Ben grimm as he too was fighting the two Skrull super soldiers and giving his own fair share of public damage. Besides, The Super Skrull possessed the powers especially to mimic the Fantastic four. Because of that, The Avengers and the Fantastic four had a short term dispute and that culminated to long term consequences.

Wakandan king, T'Challa analyzed the weapons that were used by Talbot to fight the Hulk and he instantly grew suspicious. He had his doubts that those could be the A.I.M as he had seen similar things when he had his run with MODOK. He remotely hacked A.I.M's cyber network and found that Talbot used A.I.M's help to capture Hulk and steal his powers for himself and for them to have the Hulk himself. T'Challa publicly revealed those information to the U.S senate. Poor Talbot couldn't defend himself as the Jury declared their verdict as guilty and he was sent to SHIELD's vault prison though he's not seriously big of a threat to be there. The Avengers could only laugh as he screamed and cursed abusively as he got his ass dragged away. A.I.M went underground to save themselves. Finally the relationships reconciled between the F4 and the Avengers.

Back to the Present, Bruce got angry at the sight of these horrors. His breathing rapidly increased and clenched his fists tight. The nerves started to glow mild green and his eyes turned bright green.

"No body messes with my city" said Banner gritting his teeth and then instantly grew big and green, tearing his dress apart leaving only a half torn pants.

"RRRAAWWWHH!" roared the green behemoth called the Hulk.

...

"HULK SMASH ALIENS!" roared Hulk and leapt out of the building and directly used his right fist to punch an alien fighter that exploded to pieces while another fighter dashed him accidentally only to suffer the same fate. He then landed on one building and leapt to another with great force and took down another two fighters with just a punch. Soon some of the aliens charged towards him to take him down as there were both fighters and Chitauri foot soldiers shooting their weapon.

"PUNY CREATURES!" yelled Hulk and broke away a large signal tower and threw it at the fighters and then he started punching and stomping the Chitauri soldiers like crushing the grapes.

Mean while Iron man was taking down some of the Chitauri fighters with his armor weapons.

He was flying over the South Bronx and was suddenly shot with micro missiles that shook him.

"Ouch!" Stark said in irritation. His helmet hologram then displayed multiple pictures.

"Jarvis, get me a head count on these creatures" said Stark while he flipped his body to look at the attackers behind and shot them down with his repulsors and then proceeded to fly forward at increased speed.

"Sir, I'm reading a lot of fighters all over the city. Metrics are useless at this point" replied his AI.

"Well, then all we can do is piss them off" said Stark as he used his micro missile lancets to take down multiple alien fighters which exploded and have it's parts fly with great force all over. That's when somebody came over his comm. It was Hank pym.

"Stark, the only way we can beat them is to take down their ship" said Hank.

"I know that, but first things first. We need to take care of these things under the sky" replied Stark. He wanted to bring things to a slow before going for the main event.

"Agreed" said Hank and cut the channel. Hank was using the flying insects to travel and alternatively shrink and grow to beat up the enemies. He grew beyond his normal to easily smash the fighter craft with his bare hands and then shrink to sub-atomic levels to kick the Chitauri soldiers with brute force.

Deep down, Stark knew that it's gonna be a very long fight, before they could even get to the mother ship. So he was tensed as he needs to find a quick way to dispose these things or someway to bypass them and get to the ship directly.

Falcon and Captain America were sweeping the Chitauri fighters near the Times square.

"Cap! You got 3 on your six" said Falcon as he got two fighters that flanked him on both the sides. He quickly flew above the left one and shot his dual SMGs though powerful Stark tech made, that cracked open the engine and blew up to pieces and one of the fragment hit the other causing it to lose balance. Then Falcon shot a powerful red glassy spike like material that pierced the hull and hit the engine, blowing it with a bang.

By the time Captain America was shooting laser guns from his uni-fighter that took down a Chitauri fighter craft. But noticed 3 fighters flanking him from front and the sides.

"FALCON!" he called out loud and did a sign language to which he nodded in response. Using quick sign languages always had served it's purpose well.

Then without wasting a second, Rogers jumped out of his uni-fighter, doing an air somersault at the same time throwing his shield hard towards the left fighter, whose iron-vibranium strength coupled with Rogers super soldier strength pierced the armor to incapacitate the craft and bounced off to hit the right side craft flying beneath Rogers body, who then managed to land on Falcon's back. The shield finished off the right craft by the time and reached Rogers grip. And one more second to get a fix on his target and he immediately jumped away Falcon and landed on the third fighter in front, held his shield high and hit the hull with brute force that instantly spit the parts and started to flame. Steve knew the craft's gonna blow, so he simply dived on his back from the craft only to land on his uni-fighter at the right time. The final fighter was finished off.

"Falcon, my scanners are showing large activity down the boulevard, time to finish them off" said the Captain.

"Roger that Cap!" replied Falcon and then both dived down the wide main roadway.

While the others took care of the skies, the chaos that spread across the streets were remedied as much as possible by Black widow and Hawkeye. Vehicles were burning, toppled, crashed. Both could hear the cries of the people as many were confused and scared to death and were running in random direction. Some buildings just caved in and smaller ones were out straight blown up. The atmosphere was nothing but dust and echoes.

Both the Avengers knew it's not gonna be an easy job to calm things down. It was only 5 years since the Skrulls invaded and just then they had recovered. Nobody's ready to survive another invasion.

"It's too bad Nat. It's only been 5 years and now what happen. Another freaking invasion! What do these jackasses wanted from us!?" yelled Barton in anger. Natasha couldn't help but wonder the same. The former soviet spy had many possibilities in her mind but none made sense.

"I don't know Clint, but something's really wrong. I don't know what to perceive out of this. Another invasion in just 5 yrs is not to be taken lightly. We need to find what's really going on" said Natasha as both helped the civilians scattered around to the safe place. So far the heroes in the sky have kept the enemy distracted enough to leave the ground side attack, just buying a little time.

The Civilians were quite happy as the famed Avengers came when needed the most. There had been a slight rejuvenation of hope among them after seeing the two helping them from this mess. But suddenly a blonde woman in her 30's came running in desperation towards them.

"Please help! My son's struck there! Please...PLEASE bring him back to me!" the woman cried with tears flowing down pointing her fingers to opposite side of the street where a part of the huge building had broken and fallen down.

"Calm down lady. I'll bring him. Stay here with her" said Hawkeye and giving nod to Natasha to which she did the same in response.

Then Hawkeye immediately ran towards the debris and took a look. Clint then heard a cry and then identified a small boy under a big boulder and with no space to get out of it.

"Hey kid! Stay there, I'll get you out of this"

"Where is mommy?" asked the crying kid.

"Your mom's safe. I'll take you to her though you may need to close your ears for now" Hawkeye said in an assuring tone to which the kid smiled and nodded. The boy then closed his ears.

Hawkeye knew he can't lift the boulder and clear up the debris. So he took an arrow whose head is fitted with a powerful sonic boom. He pierced the arrow hard in the boulder and immediately took a few steps back. He then used pressed a button in his bow and closed his ears instantly. The arrow exploded with a powerful sonic boom, a high pitched intolerable sound wave that pulverized the boulder. Then Clint ran towards the kid clearing debris that only had smaller broken building parts which he easily lifted and threw away. Then he grab hold of the kid. The boy tightly held the Avenger around his neck. Clint was sure the kid was too scared so he decided to take him to his worrying mother sooner.

"Let's go" said Hawkeye and ran towards Nat and the kid's mother. But in the middle of the road, he spotted three Chitauri fighters flying at great speed towards him and shot a few rounds.

"SHIT!" cursed Hawkeye and then dropped the kid down and immediately took three explosive arrows, aimed at the target and shot them. Each arrow struck the fighter and the next second, they exploded and the parts were flying over and to his sides. Clint prayed the broken crafts doesn't hit him as he don't have super powers to survive the impact. He immediately carried the kid and ran towards the widow and handed over the kid to his mother.

"Oh Sweet heart! Don't leave me like this!" The mother consoled his son. It was a nice and sweet thing to watch amidst the chaos.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but this is no longer safe place-...Nat take them away!" said Clint in hurry to which she nodded and guided the woman to safety. She once again turned and smiled at hawkeye and spoke,

"God bless you Hawkeye! Thank you so much!" she said.

No need to. Now go!" he said with a smile and readied his next set of arrows.

Mean while Captain America was clearing the skies of the fighter crafts with his unifighters and was flying above the Battery park where he used his shield to take down one fighter to his right and then the guns from his fighter to take down another. From there he reached the Brooklyn bridge where he noticed a lot of Chitauri soldiers laying waste. He instantly jumped off the uni-fighter and used his shield to resist the impact from the fall. He recovered by countering the force with a roll and got to his feet.

The soldiers immediately shot and charged towards him. He blocked the energy rounds with his shield as he ran towards them and threw his shield towards one soldier in front which then ricocheted to four others in a star pattern and by the time it reached his hand, he kicked a soldier in the abdomen with his super human strength that sent it flying crashing a car that almost broke in half. He then jumped above a SUV and then did an air dodge and threw his shield at the soldiers in that zone that took a few more. He then flipped a sedan car to take cover from overwhelming gun shots. By the time Iron man reached the place shooting his repulsors to make a few counts and then punched the ground and kicked the charging soldiers and shot a continuous energy blast towards Cap's shield which reflected on the other side. Rogers moved the shield and focused the beam towards the enemies, eliminating every soldier in their circle. Then Iron man prepared to fly away not before stopped by the captain.

"Tony, Something's amiss. The Chitauri have invaded 8 specific zones around the world" said Rogers taking a look around the dead soldiers and broken cars.

"You think they are here looking for something?" asked the armored Avenger. The fact was, even he too felt the same when the invasion began.

"No. But look at the attack. We have defeated them several times. But it looks like they have well learned from those defeats" said Rogers once again calculating the probability.

"Your point being?"

Rogers took his time to walk a few steps to look at the sky filled with flying aliens. He then turned to look at Tony who retracted his helmet inside to reveal his confused face. At this point, he didn't want to jump to rash conclusions, so he decided to listen to the veteran soldier.

"Tony, all the 8 locations are highly important. So that would need maximum protection. It's as if the Chitauri knew this. So that we would send more than usual number of superheroes defend them at any cost. This invasion down here is still only a distraction. If we don't eliminate them in space-..." said Rogers. Tony understood where he was coming as he too had the same hunch on the attack patterns.

"That makes sense. Wakanda, Newyork, Greece, Atlantis and above all, the Triskellion itself...They are highly important. With the overwhelming force, we will be swarmed and fail in our defense. Then...they would strategically take over Earth" said Tony and sighed a bit at the revelation.

"Divide and conquer is good, but this time they had just succeeded..." said Tony

"Almost. But no use keep fighting. We need to infiltrate their ships to check and capture if they had their leader inside guiding these creatures who had chosen not to reveal himself" said Rogers to which Iron man nodded in agreement and enforced his helmet back online.

"We can captain" said Stark walking past Rogers and looking halfway back at him,

"If-...we can" he finished and flew away.

With the Archer and the spy, As the woman and the child left to a safe place, Nat rejoined Clint and all of a sudden, more than a dozen Chitauri soldiers grappled down to the road surrounding the two. The soldiers were grunting in low tone.

"GET THEM!" yelled one soldier. Then the Chitauri soldiers made sudden move towards them. But these aliens didn't know this was Avenger's regular bread and butter.

Natasha instantly pulled her dual energy pistols that shot directed energy rounds at the creatures. Natasha used Clint's steady posture in holding him around his neck and go a round sweep and shoot the soldiers that instantly took 6 down. Then Hawkeye swept the bow to beat down an approaching soldier. Another one swung it's gun over Clint's head which he evaded by bending his torso back and then rolled over to the left to evade another low swing, followed by a left hook to the alien's face. Then he took out an arrow and struck it's head. Natasha blocked their attacks with her forearms and then hit them with their own weapons. The fight pattern followed and all the soldiers were dealt within the area.

"Hooh! I don't know how many freaks we still got to face! Even now, we are only part of the full team in Newyork as there are others spread across somewhere" yelled Hawkeye. He knew it's really a long shot in repelling all the invaders in Newyork, with being few in number. As there are still other members namely Doctor Strange, Scarlet witch, Vision, Wonder man, Wasp, Tigra being scattered with the others.

Natasha nodded in agreement and then called the team over her comm.

"Tony, these things keep coming and our attacks don't mean a damn thing. We need to take this fight to their ships" she said.

"I know that red head. But we are few in numbers. We can't even contain the situation in Newyork and we won't be able to even with our full team here" said Tony in a hard pressed tone as she can feel that he was in the middle of some fight while talking.

Natasha could do nothing but agree with the fact. And this wasn't the case just with Newyork but with all the attack locations through out the world. Even with the X-Men, Fantastic four, Defenders, remaining Avengers, Fury's New Avengers(Spider-man, Ms-Marvel, Agent Venom, Nova, White tiger(Ava ayala), Stephen Srange spread across the world, the Chitauri forces are over whelming and to make matters worse, this time, they had superior weapons technology at their disposal.

Natasha and Clint shared a look of desparation.

"I think..." she stumbled,

"What?" asked Clint feeling he wasn't gonna like what he's about to hear.

"I think we can't win this time" she said with the dimming hope and before he could respond, the whole atmosphere started to turn dark as the sunlight just faded as the city was covered by artificial clouds. The two were witnessing the change.

Meanwhile Ant-man was using the flying insect to travel and was alternative growing to man size in the mid-air and delivered powerful kicks to the Chitauri fighters who flew their own versions of uni-fighters.

He also saw the Hulk who was leaping from building to building and dashing and punching at the enemies who all died crying and cursing.

"HULK SMASH EVERYTHING!" he roared as he was man handling the soldiers like a baseball and also smash their crafts with bare hands. He then jumped high above a building and "**BOOM**", he did a thunder clap, creating a shock wave that forced the fighters out of balance and crash to ground and to the far off buildings.

And then there was Falcon who was doing stylish aerial maneuvers to avoid being hit by alien fighter crafts and then shot micro missiles that took down the few crafts into explosion. He also shot the red glass spiked from his suit's wings to destroy their uni-fighters. He then flew away from Hank and Hulk and then took a hard left towards where Baxter building was visible.

While this may seem a victory for heroes, It was truly a very narrow one, as the Chitauri still managed to turn the city to partial ruins. Buildings were burning with flames, broken to the roads, pipelines burst out. It was way worse than the Skrull invasion 5 years back.

The Avengers had been fighting for more than an hour. The fight had already started to take it's toll on the heroes as each and everyone started to feel exhausted except one or two. They had never thought that fighting the Chitauri gonna be this tough. They had fought them before, but this time, things were entirely different. Somehow they had got their hands on powerful toys to tip the odds.

That's when Hank witnessed the clouds and dark atmosphere and was stunned.

"My God!...Everybody! You seeing this?" asked Hank.

"I see" replied Stark,

"Jarvis, what's happening?" he asked. After a couple seconds, he got his reply,

"Sir, Stark satellites are detecting a powerful electro-chemical surge in the atmosphere" he said to the whole team.

"What's causing this event?" asked Captain America who too was on the line.

"I don't know but it's clearly artificial-...One moment..." The AI said as if it had been abruptly distracted by something else.

"Sir, there's something coming at great speed from the sky" said the AI to which everyone from their positions looked up to see a burning asteroid like thing flying at re-entry velocity appearing fully of plasma flame.

"What's the trajectory?" asked Tony. Everyone's got no idea of what this new threat was. But he decided to have everyone ready to get their attention towards that.

Some holographic markers appeared and Jarvis spoke.

"Sir, the point of impact would be near the plaza in the financial district" replied the AI. Tony immediately got the feed and spoke to the team.

"Is that a meteor or an asteroid?" asked Black widow.

"My scanners don't reveal much and we can't keep second guessing now" replied Hank pym.

"Hank's right, everyone converge at the financial district plaza. Let's see what we are truly up against" said Tony to which everyone acknowledged and cut the comm.

...

After a few minutes, All the available Avengers gathered near the big plaza in the district upon one of the widest roads. They all watched the flaming object neared their position from the sky.

"Here it comes" muttered Captain America as the others readied themselves for a hostile engagement.

That's when the object crashed into the wide road far away from the heroes position.

"BAAAAMMM" there was a huge explosion and tremors as it touched the ground with violent pound.

"Whoa! That was one hell of an entrance. Surely this day is getting a lot better" said Hawkeye to which others looked at him and then at the crashed object. That was exactly the same feeling everyone had at that moment.

The smoke that surrounded the place slowly cleared to reveal a huge hulk sized creature with a strange armor. He had dark armor that had molten lava like glowing lines all over the armor and mild vapors emanated from them. His or more precisely it's face was very demonic. He had lots of large spikes protruding from his body and even in his face. He looked bald or what counts as bald for something like that. It had animal teeth and the eyes were burning in flame. Overall, it appeared quite like a human giant but not human.

The being slowly revealed itself to the heroes only for them to see the huge creature slowly making it's steps. It also carried a huge battle axe that had hellish features. The heroes were startled at the sight. They instantly deducted that the fight's gonna be far from over and are even worried about the collateral damage they were gonna inflict to this whole city.

Iron-man on the other hand after getting his sights on the axe grunted in a lower tone but enough for his friends to appear. Because he felt like he had seen the axe before. It was familiar.

"Now who the hell are you?" asked Hank and there was silence. Then everyone readied their own weapons and the sound of energy buildup in their suits and weapons could be easily heard.

"You got one chance...To surrender or there will be consequences" threatened Rogers taking few steps front of the team. Iron-man on the other hand was trying really hard to remember the mysterious beings lava flaming axe and the burning demonic face. Meanwhile the Chitauri were laying waste to the city as usual with no disruption. They had never been in this kind of situation before. This time they felt like they are seeing a different Chitauri, so much powerful than before. They take out one and a hundred filled it's place.

"Oh c'mon! Think! I've seen that axe somewhere!" cursed his brain hard. Then suddenly he got a mild picture of the former design of the same axe, but in a different regular form. That's when it clicked his mind and immediately let a smirk.

"That weapon is Asgardian design. I know it! But who?" Tony rolled his eyes, tensed as he got near the answer.

The demonic being smirked and let a chuckling sound in it's low rumbling tone and started walking towards them.

"I'm sorry Cap, but I think he's deaf" said Falcon readying his suit.

"Well, how about a nice shot to the head?" said Hawkeye readying his bow and exploding thermite tipped arrow. Captain America soon joined his team and Hulk lost his patience.

"Guys, do we have any records on this creature?" asked Black widow.

"No, but I do get a feel like I kn-..." Tony said something before interrupted by Banner's alter ego.

"NO MORE TALK! HULK SMASH!" hulk roared and tore through the air at incredible speed.

"Hulk NO!" yelled the others, but the green scar didn't seem to stop. The demonic creature lifted it's axe and held it to his left arm.

"RRRAAARRRR!" roared the hulk.

"Hulk! Stop!" yelled Tony and then everyone paced towards his direction.

Hulk closed the gap between himself and the creature and when he leapt towards him with his fists tight ready to punch and shatter the being.

And the next thing that happened shocked everyone abruptly made the others to stop running.

**BOOM**

The demonic creature swung it's right arm and landed the fist upon the Hulk's chest with brute force that let an explosive sound of a volcano. The punch sent a shockwave that shook the others out of balance and the surrounding buildings had their glasses shattered. Hulk got battered by the punch and he flew uncontrollably in the air breaking through a series of 7 buildings, piercing them one by one to a point that the heroes couldn't see him. Everyone were wide eyed at the sight of what just happened. They never expected Hulk to be temporarily de-commissioned off the place.

"BRUCE!" Hank yelled and instantly turned to face the creature.

"Damn!" cursed Hawkeye at the sight and immediately sent the thermite tipped arrow head that struck the creature's chest and exploded with a huge sound and some lava got spit to the ground.

"HMM...HUH..HA HA HA!" the creature laughed maniacally.

"NOW EAT THIS!" the creature roared and held the axe above the head and hit the ground that instantly blew a big crater of lava. The nearby building lost it's base and got demolished into flames.

**BAAAMMM**

and the effect forced it's way towards the heroes.

"EVADE!" yelled Hank and the next second, Hank shrunk and escaped with an flying insect. Falcon carried Hawkeye, Iron man flew away carrying Captain America and Black widow. They landed on the other side of the road safely and before they could blink, the demonic creature leapt towards them.

"RRRAHHH!" the being roared. Cap and Widow rolled to their sides to evade that blow.

Stark used his armor's strength to directly block the attack from the creature's weapon. There was a heavy metal to metal heavy clanging sound. Stark was struggling for a couple seconds to hold the force as the being put too much pressure beyond even the bleeding edge armor's capacity.

'God, I wish I had my Achilles armor readyyy-...**GRUNT**" Stark was losing threshold. That's when Widow launched at the creature with her fully charged baton. But it didn't create enough force and the creature shrugged it away that shook her out of balance. Then he swung his left fist towards her. She bent her torso and dodged the reverse sweep attack. But then again knocked aside by another unexpected strike from the axe's handle.

"**GRUNT**" She grunted in pain.

"NAT!" Stark yelled in desperation.

And all of a sudden they heard a loud roar at a distance which distracted everyone. That was actually a huge building that collapsed from the basement as the alien fighters were being intercepted by military fighters.

"Now I'm losing my patience" Steve thought.

Captain America threw his shield hard to the creature's back that bounced back at him which managed to draw it's attention. Rogers then jumped high and landed a powerful round house kick to it's face and it wasn't enough. The creature adjusted it's jaw and by the time, Rogers gave a powerful punch to it's abdomen only for it's intense lava filled body spewing fire. Roger's fist instantly caught fire.

"Damn!" he muttered and blew the flame off. Then he noticed the creature intently glaring at him. Rogers wanted to keep fighting but didn't feel the urge as he too was staring a him. He assumed that the being was gonna mock him for a moment.

"YOU FIGHT VALIANTLY, SOLDIER. BUT THAT IS NOT ENOUGH TO PUT DOWN THE MIGHTY "SKURGE" OF ASGARD!" the creature roared finally revealing it's name. Rogers was stunned to hear that and so were the others whose face turned bilious.

"What the f-...!?...You're Skurge?" asked Hawkeye in shock. Skurge served as the executioner and slave to an asgardian mage Amora, the enchantress. Skurge was bound to her love spell that brainwashed him.

"I knew it! I thought I knew that big ass weapon he carried. I've seen that when I had my fair share of adventures in Asgard" replied Stark with a quick memory recap of his time in Asgard to fight Odin's brother, the God of fear. But he just can't believe the being they've been fighting was Skurge. He doesn't look like the half-giant anymore, but rather a twisted, corrupted dark entity with fire coursing through it's vein.

"It doesn't matt-..." Rogers said before interrupted by Skurge's another axe swig which he evaded by air dodge and block another attack with his shield raising a thunderous sound that knocked Skurge off balance.

"..-matter! We need to stop him and the Chitauri!" yelled Rogers.

"But how did he gain control of this Chitauri army?" asked Falcon firing energy glass spikes from his wing suit that exploded into Skurge's body, which was immediately followed by couple of electric grenades kickshot over his body by Black widow which again exploded...But to no effect.

Everyone wondered the same that how did the asgardian got control of the Chitauri army with newer and a lot more powerful technologies.

Iron man flew at supersonic speed and hit the ground with his arms raised charging up all the kinetic energy he gained into the repulsors and shot a huge beam towards the creature that would trip all the circuits if it were previous version armors. But Skurge blocked them with his magma flowing huge axe, and leapt high in the air and struck his weapon over Iron man. But the bleeding edge is resilient to withstand the blows from hulk. He blocked the attack with his arms. But that's when he saw a huge shadow trailing over him.

"Now what?" he thought and turned to look above only to find a huge object to all on them.

"Shit!" cursed Stark and dodged to his left. It was a huge freight train locomotive which Skurge cut into half and as the debris began to settle, he saw the Hulk roaring his way towards him.

"DIE!" Hulk yelled and gave thunderous blow to his body that mildly pierced his hide. Skurge flew back out of balance.

**GRUNT**

Hulk then immediately stomped the ground to make a huge piece of the rock. He leapt over Skurge and swung it hard over him.

The huge rock shattered and Skurge fell down. Then the green goliath began pounding on the creature that started to hurt the former asgardian. Only Hulk can do something like hurting beings that are considered on par with him. But Skurge kicked Hulk in the gut that sent him into the nearest building.

 **Meanwhile in NORAD HQ, Colorado desert**

James "Rhodey" Rhodes is busy and tensed with the planet wide attack of the aliens. The officers there were working on each terminals to assist their own assets. Rhodey, aka War machine, Stark's best friend was standing in front of a huge monitor that displayed various images of the world and several red markings that signifies the points of invasion.

Rhodey became an Avenger later on. But his journey began with the heroes when he first met Tony stark aka Iron man in his armor in the American jungle when he was on a mission to blow up a rocket base. That was the first moment in the blossoming of their friendship when they recognized each other fighting for same cause. He knew Stark is rebellious and sometimes acts like an amateur, but he came to trust Stark to a point that sometimes, he defers to his judgement at times of greater crisis.

"Sir, the situation is defcon 3. Our initial response forces have been completely obliterated" said a lieutenant.

"Send all available units. I want all the falcons in the air. Also prep the stealth fighters with emp mine arrays ready. If we can't get it done, we need to make sure the EMPs knock off everything around a 1000mile radius from the insertion points" ordered Rhodey to which the officer nodded in acknowledgement.

"And I pray God it doesn't come to that. Tony's toys will surely get the job done, but end up being a total mess" he thought.

"Sir, SecDef want's to speak with you" said another officer.

"Patch him through" he said. Then after that in the large screen, appeared an elderly person with a face scar that shows he's been through his own fair share of ordeals.

"General Rhodes" he saluted.

"Sir" he said back saluting him.

"I want to know how this invasion is being handled. From what I heard last, Director Fury has sent his super human response squad to multiple places around the globe to die try and stop this and your friend Stark and his buddies are handling Newyork not so well" the old man said with a hint of disdain. Rhodes just pursed his lips at the comment.

"Mr. Secretary, All available assets are out in the air to respond to the threat. I am personally coordinating them from this base. At this point, a little appreciation from you would do good for our morale" said with a smirk.

"I ain't got that luxury, Son. But it looks like we are on the losing end. We are losing a lot of hardware more than we destroy theirs" replied the SecDef. By the time the readings displayed near by his image and it was positive. Indeed the fighter crafts were easily swarmed and destroyed by the Chitauri and that made him despondent.

"I wonder if the enemy's got a lot more secret powerful stuffs under their skin. *SIGH* It was only 5 years and here comes the pain again!" said the SecDef.

"What about situation on the ground side?" asked Rhodey now angry at the mess the world had got into. He's an Avenger and he felt the adrenaline rush and wanted to do something about this as the war machine. But as a soldier, he's still got his duties here in coordinating his people from NORAD.

"Mass evacuations are on the way. But God only knows how much casualties we have already suffered" he said hopelessly. Rhodey couldn't help but feel helpless. He started to wonder if his presence was gonna make any difference.

"We'll update the situation if...anything improves, " he said. The SecDef nodded and the channel was cut. He then folded his hands watching the screens of some live footage of the attack. He watched the X-men, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Fury's New Avengers fighting the now powerful Chitauri army. He also got to see the attack on Newyork by a huge strange creature with a giant axe.

"Holy crap! What is that thing?' he wondered. He also saw the heroes who are among his closest friends, fight that being.

"Sir, 53rd regiment command reports their Marine units in Washington's been wiped out. But we are still picking up 6 heat signatures over that building. They are calling in for any assistance" said an officer pointing to the holographic image of the building.

There was little hope. He felt he could at least go out there and save them and kick some alien collective asses on the way.

"Looks like they might have survived the assault" he said. Then he immediately turned to face another officer.

"Lieutenant Carter, You will coordinate from here. I am leaving now for a search and rescue mission" he ordered.

"Sir, Yes Sir!" he saluted back. Then Rhodey left the command centre to suit up and begin his work as an armored Avenger. He's now planning to fly to washington to rescue the soldiers from supposed death. But it might have already been late.

 **Meanwhile in Newyork...**

The situation had only gotten worse. The Avengers seems like couldn't stop the asgardian.

"I wish Thor was here to help us!" said Antman who was knocked to the ground. The heroes already got a lot of bruises in their bodies, blood wounds on ther faces.

"He just abandoned us in the time of need! That's the fucking fact!" cursed Hawkeye who helped her to get back to her feet.

"HMM HMM HUH HA HA HA!...IT IS A POINTLESS WASTE OF TIME WEAKLINGS. GIVE UP THIS PLANET. MY MASTER MAY SHOW SOME MERCY" said Skurge in his growling vocals. The Avengers got together to face him.

"If we can't save Earth, we will make sure to Avenge it, bitch! Tell your master to suck up!" said Iron man who retracted out his armor helmet to reveal his wounded helmet.

"HUMANS!...AS STUBBORN AS ALWAYS...AND NOW THAT'S GOING TO GET YOU KILLED!" said Skurge letting out a maniacal glare at the almost defeated heroes.

The heroes were letting out heavy breath. Of course, they are already tired of fighting him. It's been more than an hour.

"No matter how many you kill Skurge, But try to remember who you were once. You were a proud Asgardian and now you are nothing more than a monster" said Rogers while others looked at him with a hint of confusion. They looked at him desperately.

"HMM, THE SKURGE YOU KNEW IS DEAD. I AM REBORN WITH MY MASTER'S HELP, THE ETERNAL FLAME INSIDE ME WILL BURN FOREVER" the being said with no remorse.

"And care to tell me who sent you? Who your master is? Coz we would love to pay him a visit" said Hawkeye sarcastically in the wrong timing. They were more worried about getting out alive from this fight alone.

"I'M SURE THAT WON'T BE NECESSARY!" the hideous Skurge grunted and hit the ground with his axe again that caused a huge indent, but Hulk quickly stepped in and level the road and prevented the rushing magma.

Then Rogers rushed and used Hulk to climb over him and leap towards Skurge, but was knocked aside and hit a car that buckled. Iron man then channeled his repulsors and shot a powerful straight beam at him. Skurge repelled it with his axe and deflected it back to him that threw Iron man out of balance.

Black widow and Hawkeye both ran in parallel and Clint shot a couple arrows with air burst tip that could blow a truck and Natasha throwing two electric grenades simultaneously. They instantly evaded the swinging axe and cleared the space. Skurge's body exploded violently spewing out even more magma, He then gathered himself up and made it clear that the attack wasn't enough.

Falcon then flew with great speed and hit Skurge in his chest that sent him few steps back. Then he evaded the creature's attacks and shot three spikes that did nothing. Hulk then jumped and landed few punches, but was shunted aside by his flaming axe.

**GRUNT** Stark grunted in pain after he was blown. He could see the bleeding edge was not so enough and is starting to wear off.

"Jarvis, I just wished I had the new Achilles armor ready" he said gritting his teeth in pain. The Achilles is probably Stark's most powerful creation yet. Powered by the ARC reactor with a new core, a strange energy manipulating crystal that he found on an ancient derelict spaceship at Iceland, That Ship really piques Stark's interest and he had decided to look into that when he get's time...if he lives through this ordeal.

"I am sorry sir, but still 2 days to go" the AI replied monotonously to which he simply let a jesting smile at himself.

"It's clear that someone he calls 'Master' has sent him. But who and from where? Asgard maybe?" he muttered.

"Given his origins, it is a possibility, Sir" the AI replied.

"Yeah, got it" he thought and sighed.

"If we don't stop him here, Earth's lost and there's no way we would know what will happen next" he thought losing hope.

"May be a miracle is all that we need" he thought and that's when his personal AI came back online.

"Sir?" Jarvis called out. Stark was too tired to even listen to it's voice.

"Not now Jarvis!" he said with disgust.

"Sir, but I insist" the AI retorted back. Stark sighed and he slowly got up to his feet by throwing away the rubble that fell on him. He just found that he was blown away by Skurge to greater distance that he could barely see his fellow Avenger fighting the creature. He knocked the dust out of his armor and went on to speak.

"Alright, What's it you got?" asked Stark.

"Multiple calls from your friends. Patching them through" said the AI. To Tony's surprise, it was the other heroes from other parts of the world who spread out to stop the invasion. Appeared in the helmet display were Spider-man, Mister Fantastic, Scott summers from X-men. Stark was amazed for a moment to hear from them as it had been a long time. As much he and his friends at Stark tower were heavily engaged in Newyork, they almost forgot about them. It was also a moment of relief as he could see they were just fine.

"Spider-man? Reed? Scott!?-...Finally great to hear from you guys!" he said. But deep down he knew they weren't okay. The fight had taken a toll on them.

"Not so great . Never seen the Chitauri so aggressive. They are swarming!" said the young leader of Fury's New Avengers and the web slinger from Queens, the friendly neighborhood, Spider-man.

"He's right, Tony. We are having a hard time shaking them. For every fighter we kill, ten take it's place" said Reed richards.

"The Chitauri had got a lot powerful. Their weapons, their strength are are on par with Shia'r. I guess things look bleak for everyone" said the current leader of X-men.

"I also heard Rhodey has coordinated his wings all over the place" said Stark who's not happy after what he heard from his friends.

"Yeah they are here effortlessly being blown up sky high by these creeps. Looks like we've to-..." said Spider-man who abruptly stopped, more like dumbstruck by something that he just saw up above.

"HOLY CRRRRAAAAAPPPPP-...!" he cursed at something much to other's confusion.

"Spider-man, what happened!?" Tony asked.

"Friends, you need to see this" he said quickly turning the display of the sky that Spider man was looking at.

"Wait! I too see that!" said Reed and Scott looking over the skies.

"What are those things? Alien fighter crafts from another unknown faction?" finally Reed broke the silence as he saw strange alien like fighter jets hovering the skies at blinding speed. Scott confirmed the same.

Stark got a load adrenaline rushing into his blood. He started to wear down mentally as he assumed that some new alien civilization has entered Earth to raze the planet. It was as if he almost decided that it's done and done.

"Oh My Goodness!-...They are shooting at the Chitauri fighters!" Peter parker yelled in surprise. Others were shocked to hear that.

"What? You mean to say they are friendlies?" Stark asked wondering which alien race would take interest in helping humans. If his memories served any better, its actually none. Everybody's got a blood grudge against the Earth's superheroes.

That's when Stark's personal AI lit up again.

"Sir, Those strange alien crafts are here in Newyork too. They are decimating the Chitauri crafts at unimaginable pace"

"Looks like somebody gave me the miracle I wished for!" he thought.

"Alright, we don't know who's helping or pretending to help us. But one thing at a time. We will carry on and will catch up to it once this is over" he said.

"Alright Tony" Reed responded as the other two acknowledged. The channel was cut and as Stark retracted his helmet back and looked at the skies to see the same, too oddly looking alien crafts that expended lots of blue energy from the thrusters. The crafts are firing highly powerful directed energy rounds and strange missiles that pulverize the Chitauri to molecules.

"F**k me sideways!-...What is even powering those!? The power cycles would need a significant overhaul from something more durable than a fusion reactor to have something like that!" the scientist inside of him thought of such an incredible possibility. His armor's sensors picked up lots of deutron particles expended at very high energy from the thrusters. He couldn't believe such thrusters are even possible.

He then flew towards his friends who were still having a hard time fighting Skurge. They were even more hurt from the curb stomp.

"Tony where had you been, man? You are supposed to help us" said Hawkeye who already have a wound in his cheek. and some burnt ash in his body. Others gathered near him.

"Looks like we already have help" said Stark pointing towards the sky as everyone looked up. Everyone were awestruck at the sight of strange crafts flying and were killing off the Chitauri fighters at blinding speeds.

"What in the blue hell are those-...Things!?" asked Falcon who was astonished.

"Are those alien crafts?" asked Black widow in awe. She already ruled out the possibility of SHIELD's secret weapons program as nothing gets to pass without her knowing. She then deducted that those fighters could be some other alien species they haven't known all along. She's already dying to know what those powerful crafts were.

"My God! Could something like that even exist? I can't even believe my cybernetic helmet's scanners are showing the crafts are unmanned" said Hank.

"Is that some SHIELD's secret program?" asked the archer.

"No, Fury would never keep things away from me. If I didn't know, then it's not SHIELD. I'm not even sure, if we can trust this" replied Natasha with a hint of confusion. Actually, she herself are not sure, except seeing the might of those weird technology. She could say that it's totally unconventional for any organization, be it good or the bad ones, to develop such technology. For now she's happy that the tides are turning for good or for the worst to come.

"WHAT IS IT WEAKLINGS? TIRED OF FIGHTING?" the creature mocked the heroes. It was Natasha who answered.

"Looks like somebody's taken a bad liking to your kind it seems" she said with a smirk.

Skurge immediately looked above to find his forces being decimated by some unknown parties.

"WHAT? WHAT IS HAPPENING?...ANYBODY RESPOND...SEND ALL THE FORCES...DESTROY THIS PLANET!" he yelled trying to call the thousands of Chitauri ships in space to enter Earth. But to his surprise, there was no reply, just dead silence. Now Skurge started to get pissed off by the turning tides. He felt like he was starting to lose the fight he nearly won.

He then watched as the heroes symbolically mocked him back.

"I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" he roared and charged towards them and so did the Avengers.

...

 **In the outer space...**

John-117 and Cortana are in the bridge getting ready to face the Chitauri. Their flagship _Labyrinth of Chaos_ was hanging at the edge of the system until their alarm went off after detecting the Chitauri attack on Earth. They needed the help of the heroes who have knowledge on the multiverse in reconstructing the multiverse chart to get back to their reality. Until then, they are stuck here.

"Cortana, what's the situation?" asked the Spartan who was in his armor sans the helmet.

"Well, you can see it. I am reading 1500 Chitauri ships, each a kilometre long, around Earth that's sending a lot of fighter crafts to swarm the place" she replied.

"Are they the same ones?" he asked. It was they who encountered the Chitauri in their universe and their presence here simply made things complicated. John's suspicion was too high. From the beginning, he had this weird feeling of walking into traps.

"I wish Kurt were here" he thought.

Of course, Spartan-II Kurt ambrose was the best at sensing traps. He used to say that he 'Feels' them miles away, no one knew how he do that. But its a fact that every spartan II were unique in their own fashion. It really paid off well during their missions in dealing insurrection activities back at 26th century.

"What is that activity on Luna?" asked John who saw the hardlight holo-display revealing live relay on moon with sensor data.

"According to SHIELD's files, there is an Inhuman royal family located on a place they call Attilan. Currently, a super-human named Captain Marvel, as she call herself is helping them thwart the invasion" replied the AI.

"Do they need help?" asked John.

"I don't think so, but Earth's taking the worst. At this point, we may even lose it" said Cortana feeling bad and her friend could see it in her face.

This reminded John of the war with the covenant. Even with the technological superiority, Covenant vessels swarmed the human colonies with sheer force that gave humans no chance even for a narrow victory. If not for the OPERATION: FIRST STRIKE, Earth would have definitely fallen and with that the whole human race and it's identity. Fall of Reach was more than enough to bring down their morale.

To see the same thing happening to 'his' race no matter the place who are not even as advanced as his 26th century counterparts, he couldn't sit well with it.

"Right, we need to steer clear of the ships here in space" he said with firmness in his voice.

"You don't say" she replied back manipulating the holo-display.

"Bring the shields to normal level. That's more than enough to tackle their ships board weapons" he ordered.

"Even that's an overhaul. I'm bringing all particle cannons online" she said as she confirmed in the display.

"Also key in all the seeker and reaper missile pods. We'll finish with this minor distraction and get down to help them" he said casually. Of course, humans of the 62557 AD are the most advanced in their own universe. John and Cortana had already assessed the Chitauri's strength and they are right not to be afraid of anything.

"Right, I'm bringing the ship at the position between Earth and Moon" she said as the ship moved to it's strategic position.

While at the Chitauri vessel, the ships were sending it lots of fighters. The ship board soldiers were talking in their language.

"Send all the forces down. Earth will be ours! And So does the victory" said, a ship's bridge commander and that's when the alarm went off.

"Commander, Sensors are reading an unknown huge vessel heading to a point between Earth and it's moon" said an operator.

"Show me!" the commander yelled. Then their holo display emerged and revealed a huge ship of 260 kms tall, 115kms length and 100kms wide.

"What in the heaven's name is that?" asked the commander, not believing his own eyes at the size of the behemoth. There's no ship that big in this universe except the one called Tau II, the solar system sized mobius strip shaped ship of a cosmic entity called the 'Galactus'.

"Sir, the ship is very difficult to read It looks like they-..." the operator Chitauri said before another warning set off.

"it is going to fire upon us!" it yelled.

"Bring us in to defence position!" the commander barked and before they could blink, they saw a huge energy beam that crossed their vessel and pierced through multiple vessels with ease, already making a count of 50-60 ship.

"All ships, fire at the big vessel" the commander barked, but his time in fear as they never seen a mighty attack like that. Not even kree, skrull or the shi'ar had done that.

All the vessels fired their most powerful ship board main DE cannon that lunged towards the huge ship. As the main cannon rounds from 1400 hundred ships hit the single vessel. The Chitauri were able to see the whole ship being swarmed with bright light like a nova. After a few seconds, the light vanished and they were already celebrating their victory of taking the ship down. But what they failed to realize soon dawned upon them. The huge ship stood intact with not an ant sized scratch.

"Commander, the ship is fine. Our attacks didn't do a thing" the weapons operator said in shock.

"The commander of Chitauri tensed up. They had never seen anything that can withstand this attack.

"We need to warn Skurge of this new enemy" he thought.

Meanwhile in John's ship, John could realize that they had already got the Chitauri's attention just by mere appearance at the line of sight.

"Looks like the enemies have garnered our attention. Or ironically we did theirs. Either way, on your word, John" she said with a smirk.

John waited for a minute. He was already seeing thousands of ships ready to attack them from the display. He also read his ships ready to fire. He made his mind.

"Fire" he said.

"With pleasure" she said as she touched a hardlight console that lit green. And soon they could see the fortress vessel's particle cannons fired. A beam of 500TeV annihilated Z-bosons from a single cannon instantly pierced around 65 ships end to end in the L.O.S as John watched the ships getting shattered to dust with no trace.

"Bingo 65 down" she said cheerfully.

"Send all the first barrage of missiles and heavy plasma accelerators" he said not before the display turned red.

"Looks like they got a good lock on us. In 10 seconds, 1400 hundred ships will fire their main cannon" she said with no hint of distress. That's because the Chitauri are in for a real surprise.

"Let's see what they can do" he thought. Then all of a sudden, he and the AI watched 1400 ships launching their main weapon. As the rounds hit his ship, it was fully covered with plasma light with negligible vibration. As things settled down, Cortana watched the sensor readings.

"Shields down only by 09% and recharged" she said looking at John and nodding disappointingly. John was never a soldier who underestimated his enemies. This may be a good news, but he's always on the lookout to avoid nasty surprises.

"Pile up everything and finish them" he said and Cortana launched the seeker and reaper missiles, heavy plasma accelarators towards all the enemy ships. If it were 26th century and the enemies were Chitauri, this fight would have lasted longer and even might have stood at the receiving end. But despite the advanced nature, the Chitauri stood no chance against the weaponry built by tier-0 inter-galactic empire. It was a pure curb stomp.

The missiles and the plasma shots did well against the Chitauri vessels. The attack scorched the ships surface penetrated the inside and blew it up on the whole. John and Cortana watched as 1350 ships that were surrounding the planet were torn apart. The missiles did great at tracking the target and adjusted their trajectories. Because of that, the evasive maneuvers and escape tactics didn't work. Even the ships that were not at the flagship's line of sight were surprised by the sudden attack.

John realized that the Chitauri don't have the militaristic sense in their nature as he recognized the flaw in their attacks. All the 1500 ships were concentrated at one place pointing the planet which is big fatal mistake when facing powerful enemies like their own ship. But even if they did, the fortress has weapons that can fire omni-directionally, so no enemy has a chance to even get near, let alone an un-coordinated Chitauri.

"That's it, 1350 vessels are nothing more than a flour. 50 ships simply escaped Earth with their own FTL, Chief" she said earning a look from the spartan though she couldn't see John's face expression, she didn't have to know his thoughts.

"*SIGH*..Well habits" she responded with a shrug. John was not offended, but it's been a long long time since he went by that rank. But John didn't forget the past as it was by that rank he fought the insurrection and the immediate and long standing war with the covenant, flood and the rogue forerunner Didact.

John stood silently as he nodded satisfyingly at the outcome of the attack against the Chitauri..

"Does their ships use slipspace?" John asked curiously. He didn't mind the 50 ships escaping the scene. he knew they would deliver this warning to their leader and he would always be ready when he faces them again.

"No, the normal space, where they pull the spatial fabric from ship's bow to stern and propel themselves at FTL speeds" she said. John easily understood the function.

"More like a bow and arrow. That's flawed. They need to be careful in their path. A small miscalculation could end up hitting a planet whose warped kinetic force would create an effect of an asteroid bombardment" he said analyzing the physics in seconds, behind such nasty incidents. Cortana nodded with a smile.

John might be military man by blood, But Spartan IIs as of 62557 AD are more like scientists who can pull the trigger and get their hands bloody. The continuous augmentations not only increased their physical strength but also their mental strength and abilities.

"Right, now that this threat is over, We need to help Earth" she said.

"Get the longswords and broadswords in the air to clear all the fighters at these incursion points" he said as he shifted a hardlight holopanel to lit up a display of 3D earth and marking at the 8 locations where the enemies have invaded.

"On it. Sending in the fighter" she said as the fighters from the Labyrinth's bays exited and entered the planet's atmosphere.

And that's when he caught the sight of the small display that had a live relay of a fight at Newyork. John's eyebrows shrunk and he touched that part and extended his arms. The display zoomed and revealed a group of super heroes fighting a strange creature who was as big as the hulk. The creature wore an ornate armor that exhibited ancient times, carrying an axe. Also he saw magma like content flowing inside it's body. It's face was hideous enough to be seen only in horror movies. Cortana joined his friend at the sight and her face turned awful.

"Now, why do I find the flood so cute?" she asked sarcastically. But the spartan didn't mind that.

"What can you tell me about that thing?" he asked keenly focused on his mission.

"Well, the reading's here is not much useful" she replied slowly turning to look at her 7'10" tall armored friend with her eyebrow lifted.

"But, not if you can help by getting down there" she finished.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked. Cortana effortlessly understood the motives behind his question.

"I know that you are still wary of revealing your presence known to the others. But look at them, they need help. They wont last another hour" she said now in a serious tone. John knew Cortana was right. The only thing he cared was what's about to happen next. But he cleared his mind and decided to aid the heroes in his way, the way of a Spartan II.

...

The Heroes at Newyork were almost defeated by Skurge or what was once Skurge. But there was a sudden turn of events as the Chitauri fighters were destroyed easily by some party to their advantage.

Right then, the asgardian was pissed off and he fought aggressive but predictably, blinded by fury.

The Avengers were finding easy to fight Skurge as of then as they found a renewed hope seeing the fallen Chitauri army in the sky.

"We finish him, I hope we will stop this invasion" said Rogers as he dodged an attack and as Skurge was about to pound the ground, Hulk came and blocked the attack of his right arm and steve blocked the left arm. By the time, Hank pym shrunk his size and used his full strength to give a hard stomp to his face that shook him off balance.

"HULK STILL FIGHT" he replied.

"NO ONES HELPING YOU! YOU ARE ALL GONNA DIE!" he yelled and was about raise his arms and pound again, that's when everyone heard a huge scream due to air friction and suddenly Skurge was receiving a missile into his body.

"Shit!" cursed Stark as he dived towards the opposite direction and there was a huge explosion that covered a large portion of that area, knocking out both Skurge and hulk, leveling the area and knocking out the glass from the building. Stark was protected by his bleeding edge yet had half of electronics fried. Hulk survived the explosion with his thick hide.

Skurge flew back and hit the ground hard on his back. Luckily, the other Avengers were out of the blast radius.

"Now what the hell was that?" Barton asked looking at the attack.

"Don't kno-...Look!...There!" Natasha said pointing to the sky. Everyone looked up to see one of the fighters that destroyed all the Chitauri flew below and ejected something or more precisely someone huge.

Everyone got their sight on that. They could see, it was gliding in the air at high speed directed at them.

"Uh-ohh! Who or what's that?" Falcon asked as everyone got their attention at the flying being.

"Jarvis?" called out Stark.

"I'm sorry sir, but I couldn't scan anything. But the being's armored it seems" the AI said for everyone to hear. Stark cursed under his breath. He started to wonder if it's some new enemy they had to face.

"My helmet's scanner don't reveal a thing, hell it's bouncing off" said Hank who astonished and wondered if that armor was an advanced technology. Stark equally wondered the same.

Then the being came close for everyone to see it clearly. It was someone in a dark grey matte finished armor that had the grandest, elegant, flamboyant design from head to toe. The helmet had a blue visor **(helmet design is a blend of MJOLNIR and Didact's helmet. Visor looks more like Locke's visor).** The armored being then did an air dodge with an upside down full body spin and landed with a fist pound to the ground that created a light tremor.

"**WHISTLES**...Now that's what I call an entrance!" exclaimed at the sight of a new never before seen being in front, though deep down feeling restless. Everyone got to see him having two hands and legs, appearance that of a human. Natasha felt her eyes popping out at the sight of the armored man. Stark, Hank, Falcon, Rogers and Hulk wondered who this new guy was. Despite the appearance, they are not sure, if that being was human.

"You!" Rogers called out as the armored being lifted it's head and stood with it's both legs looking at the man in blue star striped suit and a cap. Rogers mildly raised his eyebrow as he could see he was above 7 ft.

"Shit, he is 7'10" taller. My scanners are scrambling when I try to scan that being" he said loud for others to hear and they were shocked.

"Sir, the armor's material-..." the AI stumbled.

"What about it?" Tony asked confused at the stress in his AI's voice wondering what could have tipped even him.

"It's compressed alternate layers of molecular Titanium and Iridium and the even more weirder part is...The density reveals it be a degenerate composite. I can't say anything more than that" the AI spoke to everyone's awe especially Tony himself and his fellow scientist Hank Pym.

"What? That's impossible! Degeneracy can never be created artificially without collapsing down the material at sub-atomic level. No race in this universe is that advanced" Hank said peering.

"That's right. But also it explains why my sensor scans been bouncing back. Signals can't pass through degenarate matter" Tony said slack-jawed due to the shock at the revelation of something that's impossible to exist.

"You mean to say that we have another huge headache to deal with?" asked Hawkeye vacantly.

"HULK NOT FEELING GOOD WITH THAT TIN-MAN" Hulk said in his deep growling voice.

Rogers called out the being as he walked towards it and it was approaching him too.

"Who are you? or What are you?" asked Rogers who had his shield ready so much that he ever gives out a hostile move. To everyone's surprise the being talked in pure English that really stunned the heroes.

"For now, call me Spartan-117" he said. Rogers didn't know how to react, but he instantly recognized the militaristic tone in his voice. Deep inside his conscience, he believed that this man was not an hostile.

From John's point of view, it was really a tough ride. He ordered Cortana to send the birds to finish of the hostile alien forces in the planet's atmosphere. Now he just blew up the demonic creature and made a dashing entrance to garner enough attention. John was looking at a fellow super soldier who he previously read as Captain America, the WWII hero.

"Spartan-117? You some form of military?" asked Rogers. He could see the exotic build of the armor. He could easily say that it could never be a human architecture. But the word 'Spartan' changed his views as he started to suspect whether he belonged to this world.

"Yes. But we ain't got much time to play 100 questions. We need to stop him" John said as he pointed towards the fallen creature at the distance.

"Really? Sorry to be rude, but who are you? Where are you from?" asked the Russian red head curiously looking at the armored figure. She was wild eyed with what she's seeing in front of her.

"I'll explain when the time's right, Mam" he responded stoically to which he raised her eyebrow.

"Those strange crafts that destroyed the Chitauri fighters...Are those yours?" asked Tony at the same time trying to analyze his armor. He mentally even acknowledged that the armor's appearance was the best thing he had ever seen in this universe.

"Yes and we need to stop that thing before-..." as John answered was distracted by the growls and grunting of Skurge, the executioner, who slowly got to his feet after being battered by the missile.

"Are you human?" asked Ant-man who was amazed by the figure.

"Yes and who is that?" asked John. The Avengers were stunned to hear that he was indeed a human. That only raised their suspicion even more as humans are not capable of designing and developing these kind of armors, not even Tony Stark and also humans are never that tall unless affected by gigantism or acromegaly. The only other option is some secret super soldier program like Cap.

"He's Skurge, the Executioner. He belongs to Asgard. But he doesn't always look this mean. Dunno what's wrong with him" the archer answered looking at the 7'10" tall.

John having gone through SHIELD's personal files on meta-beings, learned about the real existence of characters of Norse legends which he found too odd. He also went through the profile of this Skurge. He learned that he was once a slave to a sorceress called Amora. He never paid attention to magic.

"Skurge? I thought, I read that he was a half giant. But he looks hideous" John confusingly thought.

"NOW WHO ARE YOU STRANGER? AND YOU MORTAL DARE TO STRIKE THE MIGHTY SKURGE OF ASGARD!" he growled in his demonic voice.

John immediately summoned a Pulse Fusion Rifle into his right hand that came through micro slipspace container and the heroes were stunned at the sight.

Stark and Hank didn't even know what to think of that. They saw a blue energy field from where a blue-black colored weapon appeared into his hand. Stark already started to feel his adrenaline rush into his blood.

"My god! How did he do that? Where did the weapon come from?" Hank thought. Others couldn't even comprehend what they just saw.

"This is Spartan-117. I ask you to surrender peacefully or I will be forced to take measures on you" John said in his usual monotonous voice.

Rogers could confirm that this guy was military. But what he couldn't understand was to which part of secret program he actually belonged to. He could easily say that he must some sort of special weapons program to carry unique abilities with him. He also feared if he was part of evil organizations like A.I.M or HYDRA.

"THIS MUST BE THE BIGGEST JOKE. YOU DARE HUMAN TELL ME TO SURRENDER! YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!" roared Skurge and charged towards him. John didn't give a second thought and he started firing his weapon that spewed multiple bluish arc filamented proto-star rounds at the creature who was immediately stopped by it.

"RHRRRR" Skurge grunted in irritation. Even with the magma flowing into his body, the rounds still caused him discomfort.

Iron-man in particular was startled by the DE rounds.

"Jarvis, analyze that weapon" he said and the AI highlighted the Spartan's rifle and some readings appeared.

"The weapon actually shoots a dense micro stellar round made from Lithium ion fusion" replied the AI.

"Holy Shit!" he cursed loud.

"What happened Tony?" asked Falcon and Rogers.

"That Spartan's weapon, that thing's actually shooting proto-star rounds" he exclaimed.

"Tony, that's nigh impossible. That kinda weapon can't even exist. No material can stably withstand the fusion energy let alone create it inside a compact chamber like this. Not even the most advanced alien races have developed that kind of weapons" Hank responded equally dumbfounded.

John could see that the rounds didn't do much. He used his visor's augmented reality display to get a read on Skurge and was surprised with the results.

"Cortana, is it true what I am seeing?" he talked using his internal speakers that no one heard.

"Actually yes. Skurge's body is filled with lava or whatever thermal energy. It's as hot as Sun. Maybe that's how he survived the attack or else he would be turned to molecules for sure" she responded.

"Can something like this even exist?" asked John in dilemma.

"People from the Norse myth are quite magical by nature. I know you would not like it, but that's just the fact. And I hope you already devised another plan" she said with a assuring smile.

"I do" he said and cut the channel.

"Looks like your toys aren't effective against him. Got any other ideas?" asked Falcon.

"I do. Fight him in the old fashioned way" he said as he walked towards Skurge.

"COME MORTAL, COME TO YOUR DEATH!" Skurge roared and charged towards the spartan. John could see that Skurge was no more than an angry brute at this point. He is dangerous, but damn predictable. Spartan IIs on the contrary are constant improvisers.

John lifted his rght arm horizontally and opened the palm. The same blue energy field appeared and all of sudden a huge oddly looking hammer **(Adamantine hammer modified specially for Spartan IIs, see chapter I for details)** appeared and he held it's handle and had it ready with his both hands.

"You know what, I'm gonna puke. This guy has been full of surprises" Hawkeye said almost freaking out.

"HULK HELP HAWKY TO PUKE" Hulk said cheerfully to which Hawkeye glared at him. Hulk just shrugged and others chuckled.

"Talk about brains-..." he muttered gritting his teeth.

"Tony, you think he can handle this alone?" asked Rogers.

"Wanted to see his abilities. So far we knew nothing about him but he was friendly towards us till this moment" he replied. Others nodded in acknowledgement.

Skurge charged at full speed with his axe held high.

"AAARRRRHHH" he roared.

Little did he know that the entire available media and satellite had been capturing this footage.

John was calm and collected. But all of a sudden, he moved with fluid precision at incredible speed that astonished the heroes.

"Good god! He's faster than me!" Rogers thought.

"How the hell's he moving at that speed with his armor? It's theoretically impossible!" Stark thought.

"TIN-MAN FAST AS HULK" Hulk said. Even with his limited intelligence, he could see the spartan was faster for his size and weight. Black widow, Falcon and Hank pym were silently watching the Spartan.

As they both closed the gap, Skurge swung the axe right towards his face, John bent his torso back and dodge front quickly. As John got to his feet, Skurge swung his axe back only to be blocked by John's hammer. John equally held the force put on by his enemy.

There is an untold fact about John and the other Spartan IIs. John benched max of 6 tons, but that was never his physical limit. He trains with less weights to focus the amount of force he wants to deliver by his hands so that he doesn't end up killing anyone accidentally. Without Armor, John is capable of lifting 45-50 tons in actual and inside armor, it depends on his metaphysical will power. The same goes for the other Spartan IIs.

"**CLANK**" the sound of metal hitting metal was heard by everyone.

"And he's strong too" Widow thought. She now had the urge to see the human's face. She was now more interested in his origins given the level of technologies he carried.

Both John and Skurge repelled each other back. John and the other Spartan IIs for the 60,000 year time span had intensely trained in CQC combat and Martial arts and from none other than it's master Fred-104. No spartan is on par with his abilities, but they possess skills enough to be called as master martial artists.

Skurge then made 3 quick successive moves which John blocked with his hammer. Then Skurge tried to kick back the spartan's abdomen. But John spun himself counter-clockwise to evade and hit Skurge's face with his elbow.

"**GRUNT**" Skurge grunted in pain as the force delivered by the Spartan was very high.

"RRAAAHHH" he roared and he went on to slash his axe multiple times in different direction and John dodged every attack. He evaded the last one by dodging mid air and after getting to feet, John charged an intense energy ball in his left palm, which he channeled from the Nexus power core, he and Cortana retrofit into his armor. He then shot the energy ball to his chest that exploded and sent him flying which Skurge back flipped and countered the force by piercing the axe's head down the road that visibly tore until he stopped.

"FINALLY SOMEONE WORTHY!" the demonic being rumbled it's voice and again charged towards the spartan.

John stood simply looking at the desperate creature.

"Why isn't he moving? Is he nuts? Got a death wish?" Hawkeye cried seeing the immobile spartan. Tony even made a step to help the Spartan get off the way.

When Skurge charged the Asgardian energy into his axe and used full might to hit the spartan in his body, John used his metaphysical ability to concentrate in altering the armor density to near infinity using his will power alone. This is one of the profound abilities of Spartan-IIs.

When Skurge hit the charged axe at John's torso, The Avengers thought he was done. But what happened was the contrary. The axe bounced off with extreme violent force that exploded both on John and Skurge. Skurge was knocked back out of balance and he terribly hit a truck that buckled.

"Jesus christ!" Rogers yelled and the other Avengers made their move only to stop to see the Spartan was standing just fine with not even a microscopic scratch in his armor.

"I swear to God!...I swear nobody could survive that. What is he?" Hank now stressed his mind too much.

Skurge was now hurt by his own raged filled attack. He slowly got to his feet after hitting the truck now looking at the spartan who was carrying his hammer and was walking towards him.

"WHO ARE YOU!? I HAVE NEVER SEEN A MORTAL THAT FIGHTS LIKE YOU DO. MY MASTER WILL BE PLEASED WHEN I HAVE THE HONOR OF KILLING YOU" Skurge roared and ran towards him barehanded. John charged the hammer head with the quantum vaccum energy to full level and unleashed a blast that sent Skurge flying back into the same truck this time breaking it.

Then John ran at incredible speed once more to the heroes awe, and he jumped high and instantly a bright yellow energy field surrounded him and the spartan vanished mid-air.

"HEY! WHERE DID THE TIN-MAN GO!" Hulk asked loud the others wondered the same.

"His armor's got teleportation abilities!" Stark thought instantly recognizing it, now with a bit of jealousy in his mind voice.

"Dunno how many tricks he has got himself up-...Look! Over there!" Widow said pointing to a place where Skurge lays down.

The spartan appeared just above Skurge in mid air from the same yellow field with his hammer raised and the next second, he stomped the hammer hard over Skurge's body.

**BOOM** that was the loud sound anybody heard.

Skurge had never thought that he would ever be beaten by an armored human, a mere mortal. But he's about to learn that it's an absolute nightmare to piss off the Spartan-IIs of the Tier-0 human empire, let alone their military commander. Skurge is about to learn the metaphysical powers of the Spartan IIs that are almost on par with the cosmic beings, The Precursors.

John instantly took few steps back and then raised his right arm and pointed it towards the creature with open palm. Then he raised the arm only for everyone to witness Skurge being raised above the ground, floating in mid air. John was using Telekinesis to lift Skurge with his mind.

The heroes couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Is he lifting him up with his mind?" asked Falcon loud.

"Think so. Looks like another Jean grey to me. Wait, could he be an X-Men?" Stark replied wondering of such a possibility.

"No matter who he is. It's good that he is helping us. We wouldn't have survived another hour" Rogers said.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME OUT!" the being yelled.

John threw Skurge on the opposite direction and caught hold of him again and this time he propelled him towards himself. John then ran and jumped high to deliver a full round house kick that sent him crashing to the ground.

**GRUNT** Skurge started to feel weak. He never expected to face someone who is well diverse in all arts and forms of war.

"John, I think, we can stop dragging this cat fight" Cortana said in his speakers.

"Acknowledged" he replied.

"I think this fight's gonna end" Stark said as others looked at him.

John then charged himself with the Nexus energy, siphoning from the Nexus core. He was entirely covered blue aura of energy. It grew intensely and at one point, John released a powerful beam of energy from both of his palms. The energy hit Skurge and incinerated him to a point that he felt his powers drained almost completely. He was now too weak.

The Avengers were startled at the sight of such might. This energy projection ability had them place him on the power levels of Thor, Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel.

"He's an absolute overkill. I would say that" Hawkeye said in flattery.

"For years, we have never encountered someone like him. He's different, mysterious. Where in this world had he been all the time?" thought Rogers. That's when they all saw Skurge struggling to get back to his feet.

**HEAVY BREATHING**...I-...I...MUST NOTIFY MY MASTER...HE WILL FINISH THIS!" he said knowing that he will be killed if he stayed any longer.

John knew he would try to escape, but he wanted answers. So he ran towards him, but before that,

"GET ME BACK!" he yelled looking up. Suddenly a huge rainbow filled light covered him and lifted at light speed into the sky. Skurge vanished with that.

The other heroes ran and stopped besides the spartan.

"Damn! He escaped using the bifrost" said Stark who didn't like the outcome.

"That means he was from Asgard, that's confirmed. Now I wonder what's going on with Thor" Hawkeye said. He was right on that regard, but there was no answer.

Hulk, all of a sudden, free of stress, reverted back to Banner. Hawkeye and Falcon helped him get back to his feet.

"Hooh!...I feel like being rammed by a freight train" he said earning a chuckle.

"So the world's safe?" he asked to which others nodded. Hank walked slowly by him and smiled gently and turned to look at the spartan.

"Thanks to him" Hank pym pointed at the strange armored man.

John was looking at the Hulk's real human form and he mentally assured himself.

"So he's the world's renowned gamma scientist that I read about" he thought.

Then Bruce got to look at the strange big armored being, his vision, half blurry. After the vision cleared to get a nice view, His face turned deadpanned at the sight of a huge being's appearance.

"Who are you?" he asked.

...

 **One hour after...**

The dust began to settle, the sky began to clear and sunlight started to set upon the city. The atmosphere felt light as the fight was over. The enemy had been vanquished from the planet. The Chitauri had been dealt with once and for all, for now. But everyone had the liberty enjoy the new earned peace that filled the air.

"I wonder what happened to the Chitauri space ships" Rogers asked.

"They have been dealt with" the Spartan replied.

"Wait, what? What do you mean dealt? You got space ships too-... for space combat?" asked the now overwhelmed Hank.

"We do in a sense" replied John not divulging much.

The Avengers and the Spartan watched as the civilians started to get to the streets, the calm after the storm. Spartan could see with his helmet visor, that there were many wounded and severely injured men and women and children.

"We could help them chief. It would be a nice first impression to start with" Cortana said. John mentally acknowledged.

"I'm sorry, but who are you? I think we owe you for your help. But you can give us the explanations. Where are you from?" asked Bruce banner who manged to get himself some clothes.

"I will reveal everything about myself at the right time. But now, we need to tend to the wounded" John replied. The heroes didn't deny that as they can see for themselves. But this pretty much surprised the heroes. They never thought he had such compassion to help others despite being a complete stranger.

But John is a soldier and ever since the day he became a Spartan, he swore to protect innocent life at the cost of his own life.

The cops had already arrived into the city to help the civilians. They were a bit startled at the sight of the Spartan and even went on to aim their weapons at him. But the Avengers did a nice job of cooling them down. The media helicopters were already flying high and capturing every single footage.

Then John went on to look for the worst injured and those who are in near death situation.

John spotted a woman crying out loud as the cops restrained her. She was crying at the sight of her dead 11 year old daughter. The Avengers looked at her sympathetically and guilt as they couldn't prevent such an unfortunate incident. But they knew they had to deal with it every time they had to save the day. The bill always comes in due for pay even for good deeds.

"People look at us like we are saviors. Huh-...in reality we are no different than the civilians. Things do get beyond our control" Falcon said with utter sadness.

"You still did the best in protecting this world. You shouldn't be guilty for that" John said to console them to which he let a sad smile.

This very much reminded John of his early days in the Covenant war. The Spartan IIs were seen as their means of salvation, as super heroes. But only they knew that they are just soldiers who will die in a battle just like any human would. They couldn't save everyone like Jericho-VII, Reach and many other worlds. The Spartan IIs were hyped so much just to boost the morale, with the only difference that the hype were of absolute worth.

John's visor zoomed to find that she was crying to see her lifeless little daughter being taken away from her in a stretcher into the ambulance. John assumed the girl to be between 10-12. He slowly walked towards the girl before being carried in only for them to stop at the sight of the huge armored man. People around there tensed, including the cops.

John slowly brought his left arm and touched the girl's forehead with the first two fingers and instantly recognized the negligible neural activity in her brain. John had hope. His visor instantly scanned her body to reveal everything about her vital signs.

John then took a small advanced wierd looking pistol syringe from his armor's compartment and loaded with a blue glittering serum. The serum is infact billions of organic nanites that are biologically programmed to heal any wound, even dead persons, who's got their brain still active. This was used in emergency cases. This medical advancement was one of the reasons that significantly reduced humanity mortality rate.

John administered a shot much to other's dismay for not knowing that he was in fact helping. The nanites entered her blood stream and started to work it's miracle. The nanites simply gets converted into the organic cells for repair. The people around includng the Avengers were stunned to see the girl's body visibly getting repaired at remarkable pace and in few seconds, everyone could hear a loud and heavy breathing as if she woke from a bad dream.

The child's mother was astonished and her face turned exultant at the sight of her now alive daughter. The girl immediately lunged at her mother and they both embraced each other that even the other civilians who watched that had tears filling their eyes. Then for a moment everyone looked at the Spartan in respect despite being a complete stranger.

"I don't know who you are. But we'll never forget you in our life"

"Go home and be safe" was all that he said.

Then John turned to an officer who was staring at him with little hint of fear. He then handed him another small medical device.

"Just one little press against the skin for the wounded and injured" he said. The officer looked at the device he didn't even understand, but were able to follow his instructions. He nodded in acknowledgement and went to help the people.

The Avengers on the other hand were totally stupefied at what just happened. Bringing a dead girl alive was the last thing they expected out of the Spartan.

"Just how much advanced technology is he in possession of? Who really sent him? Who can even develop such things" Banner, now as a scientist wondered the potential effects of the serum and the technology he displayed so far. It's been intriguing from the very first moment. All of a sudden, they got to see a new player outta nowhere and did something most would get a stroke.

"You've been an eye-opener for some time. You carry an incredibly technology and natural super-powers. Now we all are eager to know you" Rogers said who still couldn't believe that he actually brought a dead child back alive.

"What about the rest of the world, the other 7 places?" asked Natasha looking at the Spartan's helmet.

"I'm reading the whole planet safe and free from the Chitauri" he said firmly. The others smiled. But they were confused how this man was well informed and that he's getting information almost instantly. Because, Tony confirmed via his satellite feeds and acknowledged the Spartan's report. They thought he really must be well equipped and backed up.

"Are you part of any secret clandestine organization that we aren't aware of? But even then every black ops we've known were never capable of such feats" Natasha said.

"I'm not part of any group. But like I said, I will explain everything at the right time"

" _looks like you just made a good first impression after all. Even if they don't trust you, They might give a chance to socialize with them, earn their trust. Then we can get to work in getting back to our place"_ Cortana said to him. John mentally acknowledged her point of view.

"Nat, I know your past experiences are getting the best of you. But he doesn't deserve too much interrogation for now" Hawkeye said with some little maturity in his words. Black widow raised her eyebrows at the statement.

"Clint's right, Widow. After all, he did help us without asking anything in return. We don't have to pry for now" Captain America said.

"But Fury will ask for answers anyway. C'mon, everybody in this world would have known him by now" Bruce said. Others acknowledged the logic whether they liked it or not.

"Tell them that I'm not here with malice intention. Tell directory Fury that I will come forward to clear your doubts" John spoke firmly that others nodded.

"Right, we'll talk about that later. But what of the not so friendly parties who would pay a great attention to you? Those who would in all their powers to subdue you" asked Tony. Stark internally cursed himself for letting out his mild jealousy because of the advanced technologies he carried. Even a part of him wanted to spar with him to test his armor's resilience that withstood an Earth shattering blow from Skurge.

"May be with my Achilles, I could do that" he thought.

"As for the bad group that you warn me about...They are always welcome to try to get near and raise a finger against me" he said in a deep tone that sounded more like mean threat. John immediately turned to face Rogers,

"Captain?" he called out to which he looked at him.

"It is a pleasure to meet a WWII veteran" he said lending his right arm. Rogers was wondering how did he knew about his past. But he could easily feel a tone of respect in his voice when he said that, more like a fellow soldier greeting another soldier.

"The pleasure is mine, Spartan. Hope we would meet again" Rogers replied, with both the super soldiers shaking their hands in mutual respect.

With that said, he took a fewsteps back and everyone saw a fightercraft(Longsword) flew to his position and hovering above ground. It rotated and released the bay doors in a retractive fashion. John stepped into the longsword and the doors closed. After a few seconds, the craft rose above and tore through the air into the sky and left Earth. John wanted to give them time to get acclimatized to his presence, before he could explain his origins.

"Okay, That wen't well. But am I the only one feeling wrong to let him go just like that?" asked Falcon to his fellow Avengers.

"What makes you say that?" asked Hank.

"What he means is, what if this whole drama's a facade? What if we had just shook hands and butts with someone who's got an invasion force to raze the planet again?" asked Natasha, being supportive of Sam wilson's argument.

"We will always be ready, Widow. But if my judgement serves right, he is not our enemy, I can vouch for that" Captain America said with seriousness.

"Why do you say that? You sound as if you knew him before?" asked Banner. Rogers took a deep breath and moved away from them and turned halfway to see them.

"The way he addressed me, I felt a comradship. Something tells me he's a soldier by blood-...And soldiers are honor and duty bound" he said. Others could actually feel and understand his words and where he was going. They even thought of such possibility.

"One last thing. He knew your past. Just how much he knew about us already?" asked Hawkeye to which others nodded in approval. This is now a matter of identity at stake, so they need to be more cautious.

"I wondering the same myself" Stark finished who hadhis mind blank, not being able to sum up what happened so far.

By the way, they got paperworks to be done. Directory Fury will ask the situational assessment. Little did they know that not only the organization that keeps the world safe took interest in this Spartan, but also the evil ones like AIM, Hydra, HAMMER etc.,

...

 **At the Stark Tower**  
 **12 hours after Chitauri attack...**

Tony Stark and the other members of the Avengers including those who were not in NewYork, but spread in other parts of the world like She-Hulk, Wasp, Tigra, Wonderman, Carol danvers who returned from Attilan after helping the Inhumans, Scarlet witch, Vision, and three of the members of New Avengers - Spider-man, White Tiger, Sam Alexander(NOVA), then the whole Fantastic four.

" _We are back with 12 hours after the attack by the aliens once again after 5 years since the so called Skrull invasion. As, the cops and fire department in NYC are helping people to get to their normal lives, There are also massive pooling of money and other resources from mega corporations around the world like Stark Industries, Rand industries, Roxxon Energy Corps likewise for renovation of cities that were severely beaten-..."_

"Hmm, Looks like a great job . Philanthropism still in your list" said Spider-man.

"Isn't that one of my 4 qualities?" said Stark sarcastically.

"So tell me about this new comer Stark. The one who calls himself Spartan" said Carol danvers gaining everyone's attention.

"Yeah tell us, Tony. Who's this new player in the field? Certainly he's looks big from these images the news channel shows us. But how much of a big meany weeny guy is he?" asked Johnny Storm.

"I guess 'Spartan' must his other designation, but god!-...I've never seen the technologies he possessed. Everything he's got is way beyond what we can actually develop now or anything even I had made" Tony said. Reed, a fellow scientist was intrigued as he too saw the footage of the appearance of the strange fightercrafts and this Spartan's appearance in NewYork. The powers he possessed and the armor technology sparked his mind for lots of possibilities in advancements. Also has powers that puts him on the level of cosmic beings like the Silver Surfer, the Fantastic four had encountered.

"Why do you sound so envious, Tony? Sorry for asking out loud" said She-hulk with a funny taunt.

"Wait, What? No-...I-...I don't" Tony felt completely embarrased, stammering to respond. Some burst into laughter.

"Oops!" She-hulk shrugged.

"Interesting, I would like to see those tech myself, assess it's potential" said Reed rubbing his chin beginning to kick start his scientific brilliance.

"Having the ability to teleport requires lots of energy. If the Saprtan can do it inside his armor, then the level of mathematical foundations needed for precise Space-time displacement and energy expenditure is way beyond imagination!" Reed wondered. Tony, Hank and Banner were the only once who understood deeply what he said. They too nodded in approval.

"Uh oh! Here they go again!" muttered Danvers who was already feeling a little sleepy.

Not only that, but he also used a weapon that shot rounds of proto-stars made of lithium ions. That's technically impossible to develop. I don't understand how it's even stable without collapsing" said Banner after he saw the satellite footage of the fight as he was there as the Hulk and Banner didn't know what happened.

"Not only the weapon Bruce, but also I tried to scan him with my helmet. But it just bounced off. The material was categorized as degenerate composite. That's even more intriguing" said Hank.

"And did anyone saw that huge hammer? It fired blue energy that knocked Skurge's ass off" said Hawkeye.

"Jarvis managed to scan that, did you know what was powering the hammer? Pure Quantum vaccum energy. The hammer head acted as a siphon" Tony said who can't even believe what he saw during the fight. The scientists in the room were flabergasted by such technologies. That's not something they can easily get into.

"You know what? You guys are gonna get yourself a stroke if you keep doing that" Ben grimm said with a jest.

"Yeah, we are already having a rough day fighting the Chitauri and you eggheads are simply making it worse than my previous date with Frankie" said Johnny Storm that earned chuckles from many.

"That was your fault. You just burnt down her favourite serigraph painting that she kept for years as a memory" Sue chided her brother.

"Hey I just wanted to make it look even more beautiful with my touch" Johnny defended himself.

"Sorry matchstick, but your 'Touch' is the real problem. You can't make a girl's day any worse than that" said Danvers.

"Ha! Looks like everybody's getting to know you better, kid" Ben jested to which he grunted in response.

"So did he reveal anything about himself? Like where he came from or which group he belonged to?" asked Ava, the white tiger who herself was fascinated by him after seeing the armored figure fighting the Skurge.

"No. But he said, he would come out and explain himself at the right time, but trust me when I say this. He packs a pretty powerful punch" answered Hawkeye.

"Lemme guess...You guys just let him go? Who knows if he's some new troublemaker in disguise. God, we already have to do the honors to the whole world" said Spider-man with mild distaste.

"We didn't find any reason to. He helped us after all" said Rogers.

"Hey, I'm just saying, no offence. Trust is hard to come by you know" replied the web head. Spider-man himself lives a double life and even with his close friends near except his wife Mary jane, he never disclosed his real identity to anyone because of the trust issue, but more like to keep his loved ones from harm's way.

"As excited as I am, I agree with the web-head. He may or may not be a threat, but we need to keep a close watch on his activities. He might have fought Skurge, but that only makes him an even more dangerous one" said Sam Alexander, member of the Nova corps and Fury's New Avengers.

"Agreed, if he turns out to be a threat like any other, then we just got additional homework" Tony said as everyone listened to news once more.

" _-...We all could see the footage of the fight in NewYork. Looks like there's someone new out there that nobody's seen before. He displayed a lot of powers he carried when fighting that's causing a stir among both the political and military sectors. Almost everyone believes he's another hostile alien. Not everyone is supportive of the idea that he might be someone fighting for good as there are others ,who urge to hunt him down across the globe before he becomes a new threat-..."_

That was very much true as not everyone supports the Spartan. Half of the world is wary of his presence stating and some even firmly believing that he's another threat to be contained and just because of his angelic actions in NewYork, he should be let to roam freely. But the other half are fully supportive of the Spartan as the media had covered the footage where the armored figure helps reviving a dead 11 year old girl back with his technology. Half of the civilian population are thankful to him and his timely help. The scientific community is pretty much on the edge, looking for an opportunity to meet the Spartan to get more knowledge on advnced technologies that may beneift mankind, but it was never upto them. Governments of almost every nation at the same time are ready to use deadly forces and military for confinement. But those negative reactions are not their fault. Earth is getting filled with super-human and alien populace and with those who out match them. Everyone wants to keep their nation safe.

" _I don't know who he was, but he brought the only thing I love in this world, my daughter back alive. Wherever he is, may our lord watch over him and also every super hero that's keeping our world safe"_ the woman whose daughter John revivied, spoke to a media front man.

" _As we've seen the reactions from the publc and the bigshots, more are yet to come. This is Lucy wilson from FOX news. Stay tuned..."_ finished the news reader and with that the screen was turned off.

After hearing the public reactions, most in the main hall changed their opinion about him. Few were still wary, but others decided to give him a chance.

"So, we keep this under wraps for now?" asked Susan storm.

"For now. When he comes back, we'll decide what to do with him" Steve rogers said to which everyone nodded in approval.

"Okay, if that's all, we have to get back to the Triskillion. Fury's gonna get a lot more 'Fury'ous if we are late.

"Then see you later Spidey" Johnny waved him.

"Sure, see you later folks" he waved back and he and his other two fellow squadmates left the Stark tower to get back to their flying base.

"Okay then, Fantastic four will return to Baxter. But if you ever need any help? Do call us" Reed said to which others nodded.

"And hey Reed, thanks for you help with the Achilles armor" said Tony.

"Glad to be of help. But I'm wondering why would you need an overhaul like that, Still, I'm worried about that strange crystal you found on that derelict ship at iceland" said Reed sounding a little worried.

"Reed, I think Tony's not a kid. You've been worrying for a long time" said Sue placing her hand over her husband's shoulder to assure him.

"Reed, I get it. But don't stress yourself. You know my stuff. They never fail" said Tony with a smirk.

"I'm just saying Tony, no offence. I'm simply-..." said Reed,

"Worried? C'mon pal!" he said getting near him and shaking hands.

"Hope you are right" he said with a firm smile. Stark may be the genius of all, but that doesn't mean he's 100% right all the time. Sometimes, he need friends like Reed, Hank and Banner to pinpoint negligible yet significant flaws in his works.

"If that's all, F4 needs some break. See ya Tony and everyone else" said Ben grimm. Everyone nodded with a smile. With that, the F4 left the tower in the fantasti-car.

"Hope that went well. Now to the other part of the problem" said Wasp bringing their attention.

"What about?" asked Wanda.

"What happened to Skurge? It's really odd to see him like that" Wasp said. Others were equally confused as even they couldn't find the answer to that.

"Now I'm starting to wonder if something bad really happened to Thor when he left for Asgard months back" said Wanda, the scarlet witch.

"The only time we'll get the answers is when we see Thor. Until then, we just carry on our work. But Skurge referred someone as his 'Master'. I wonder who that is" Steve said still looking past the fights and Skurge's boasting about his master.

"We will find that, even it means a ride to Asgard itself, Cap. But still I'm eager to meet this Spartan. He seems really interesting" She-hulk said eyeing at a mini hologram of the Spartan that Stark used to show the others.

"Me too. Really would like to see who he is underneath that armor, if he's a human as he said about himself or some alien in disguise" Danvers said with equal amusement and wariness. She had a fair share of troubles with the shape shifting Skrulls and Kree.

"Next time ladies, next time" Natasha said shrugging her shoulder. But deep down, she wanted learn the secrets of the mysterious Spartan. She felt an aura of immense power like when standing next to people lik Hercules, Thor. But this Spartan looked even more disciplined in his moves than them.

"Right, Jarvis? Let's get to work in finishing that Achilles armor. Final core insertion is all that's left" Stark said to his AI.

"Yes Sir" the AI responded. Stark then waved his hand to the others to get back to his R&D floor.

Now the people who's left also said each other good bye and went their separate ways as each got their own chores to tend to.

One thing was for sure, with the Spartan's presence, the coming days are gonna get a lot more interesting. They will soon learn about the armored warrior and the human that resides in. Now that his presence is known to the world, John already knew that he might have already gained the attention of dangerously bad guys like and other individuals and they will have a common goal of capturing this Spartan. But for them, he's going to be a surprise for best...or for the worst.

 **...**

 **A/N: Next chapter will include some covers on the perceptions of characters like Nick fury, the New-Avengers, the X-men, even the Wakandans(especially Shuri and T'challa), Doctor Strange etc. But amidst this, like I said, the story will maintain a grounded style with limited and necessary back story. The story will not be confined to Earth. John and Cortana will travel the cosmos for different adventures and at the same time find the real truth about their arrival and their path from there and who thereal enemy was all along. This chapter is just the beginning of the stage set.**

 **As for the other usual stuff, I'm planning for John and Cortana to share some technology just enough for 2030 AD in Marvel universe. Definitely John will surprise everyone with his wits. Also, this story will touch all the facets of story like Cosmic adventures with the Guardians, Asgardians, Mystic adventures and even some earthly run in with the big bad guys like Apocalypse, Kang, and yes, time travel events will be there in my story. I'm also planning for a romantic relationship between John and Black widow. But I need opinion on that, to know if that would really work out, even opinion on whether there should even be a romance in the first place.**

 **Until then...C U Later in next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Halo franchise.**

 **As it takes a long time to write down, I thank all those who gave your valuable reviews since I posted the last chapter and also I say this to those who expect more updates for this story, your wish is granted:D:D. Now to respond to the queries..**

 **UltimateRaftman: Well there will be some precursor artifacts as you can see the the levels of power, the Precursors held.**

 **TheRealMasonMac: I know and understand your point. But Longsword and Broadsword still has a good ring to it and helps me feel connected to the halo franchise:)**

 **Sayla Ragnarok: Well, you should know that Halo universe uses it's own fictional technological achievement tiers that was again adapted from the kardhashev scale. In halo's tech tier, Tier-0 is technologically the most advanced in the halo universe. Precursors mastered this tier for billions of years and humanity just got to that level and growing in it. Kardhashev scale is a real world scale for technological achievements. Don't confuse it.**

 **minecraft93: In terms of mechanical strength and durablity, NC-D is exceedingly stronger than the Adamantium and Vibranium because of it's degenerecy state. But NC-D is vulnerable to ultra high energy particle beams unlike the Adamantium or Vibranium as NC-D lacks the unique molecular property that those two elements have. Besides, John's armor is not neural physics. Armageddon battle suit is an armor that harness Spartan IIs metaphysical abilities and amplifies it to unimaginable levels.  
**

 **Guest: Black widow doesn't get crazy upgrades. But tech wise, that's possible.**

 **Chapter 5: Perceptions and reality**  
 **Earth, a week after Chitauri attack.**

 _(A/N: John's face in my story would be the face of_ _ **Bruce wayne from Batman Arkham origins**_ _with mildly visible short trimmed beard, mustache and goatee. The sole reason for this decision is, I don't want John-117 to be a random mythical character and wanted to give him a ground for interacting with the world. Let's say his face has matured a lot for 60,000 years yet appears as man in early 30s. The reason for specifically choosing that face model? Nothing, just I like that bruce wayne model and very much suits John's current stature)_

The world had been recovering at a remarkable pace, thanks to the availability of advanced technology in 2030 AD coupled with the pooling of resources from billionaire industrialists. But still, the loss of life was something that no one could prevent. The death toll rose in thousands despite the heroes intervention. Men, women and even children were all equal in that misfortune. But still thanks to the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic four and other factions who did their best in fending of the invasion and help the civilians get off the traumatic event, surely it will take time. First it was the Skrulls and then in the next five years, the Chitauri and with a serious leader in the form of Skurge. Hence the speedy recovery might not be just because of the super heroes, but the people's will to live and rise above the odds. They've been doing this for a long time that they got used to it. Deep down, they knew, they had to live with it.

THAT being said, the hottest topic in the following week was not even the attack, but the sudden appearance of a certain someone so large in a certain armor that could be easily mistaken for an extra-terrestrial entity. The Avengers, especially those who were in Newyork were called upon by the UN where representatives of the world nations were gathered to give briefings on this new character who entered the play field. They clearly expressed their fears of the worst to come. But the Avengers went a tad bit defensive for this so called 'Spartan' as he called himself, stating that he was the reason why the invasion was put to an end before it swept the whole planet.

 _ **Flashback...**_

"So you say, that this...Spartan is a good hero, like you call yourselves? Are we safe to say that?" asked one UN member. There were also the highest ranking military commissioned officers, like the Admirals, Generals and the Secretary of Defense and then the press. The hall was definitely crowded. Before them stood the Avengers who fought in Newyork.

"Yes, Sir. The Spartan not only helped us, but he's clearly human. So you don't have to worry" replied the stars and striped Avenger.

"Captain, I believe the term 'Human' is subjective to debate. Just because he said he's human, doesn't mean we have to take that shit!" said a old man not of the UN, but from among highest ranking members of the military, A 3 star General.

"Why it makes you believe otherwise?" asked Natasha who understood the general's question and the stress in his voice. He was going to be hard to convince.

"You are naive. We all saw the armored being. He displayed technology and powers way beyond anything we have seen. No matter if it's SHIELD or HYDRA or AIM...No one's capable of making such weapons. Also he's huge to be called a human" he said. The other were looking at him and quite agreed with him. The Avengers knew this would probably come into play.

"Honorable members of the UN, Do you have anything in your minds, Because I don't see it inside you" said Tony Stark sarcastically.

Stark is one person who could castigate the politicians straight to their faces and get away with it. That's because, Ever since he publicly revealed himself to be the Iron man so many years back, Government military sectors had contracted the HAMMER industries to replicate the Iron-man armor which didn't end well. All attempts failed. But somehow, a member of the criminal organization called the ZODIAC let by none other than Nick fury's brother Jacob fury, stole the armor blue prints and sold it to the CEO of HAMMER multi-national, Justin Hammer. That coincided with the emergence of armored criminal, Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, Beetle and even ARC reactor powered Octopus armor developed by Dr. Otto octavius. When things obviously went out of control, the government realized that it was their own fault to outsource the armor design to HAMMER that started this whole mess. Stark came to save the day by utilizing the help of Hawkeye whose past with the circus of crime was helpful in finding out the truth. Stark went on defeat the armored villains and destroy the blue prints forever. From then on, Stark knew how to keep the pencil pushers pride in check.

"Your mockery are nothing to us . But it's time we kept in check of you freaks. Day by day, Earth is filling up with reckless powered beings that are causing a lot of damage to public" said another member of the UN. The Avengers were quite tensed at the statement. Stark still kept a cool head while others were giving some thoughts on the implications. They may be operating under the eyes of the SHIELD, but the organization operates under the direct watchful eyes of the world government, where almost 150 nations signed on it's formation decades back.

"Lemme handle this one" Stark whispered to his team who nodded in approval. Then he took a few steps front.

"Let me remind you of a certain facts that happened in the past. The Avengers and the other super powered groups were keeping this world safe. We are not aware of who this Spartan was or where he lives or even where he got his hands on such advanced technologies. But he just saved our collective asses back on that day at the right time. We've been doing that for years and you can't deny that. You wanted to keep us in check? A gentle reminder, that you people nearly started a world war when you tried to replicate my armor tech" said Stark. Actually the conflict went down in history as the infamous 'Armor Wars'. Even now, Tony thinks that gives nightmares to him and the chills in the spine. But he too is at fault for that as he left his armor designs vulnerable for theft.

But still, the UN became speechless. He was right at that point.

"Let's leave those in the past and take a good look at the present moment" Another member said to which Stark chuckled and then nodded.

"This Spartan is an unknown factor when it comes to combat global threats. He might have helped us as you suggest, but still, who knows if he's just another harbinger for a planetary incursion? Humanity can't stand another one" said one of the General of the Army.

"General, We too agree that our mysterious armored being can't be trusted at the moment. But we seek not to take a drastic step without any knowledge on where we are stepping in" said Black widow in a assuring tone.

"Care to elaborate, Mam?" asked the Secretary of State.

"What she says is, that we Avengers and the other factions will keep a close eye on this being. We have to tread this carefully. What if he is not hostile and our reckless actions make him one?" Falcon cross questioned the UN which stirred up a loud buzz in the hall.

"SILENCE!" barked the UN Secretary and then turned to the heroes shrinking his eyebrows to look more focused and wary.

"THAT would be another level of problem we had to deal whether we like it or not" said Captain America un-nervingly. Others were not too delighted to hear this. But agreed he was quite right on that regard.

"Right, we'll do as what you people suggest. But all the military sectors, across all the nations of the world will be ready to face or subdue him if things went sideways" said the Secretary monotonously. The heroes were stunned and glanced at each other in confusion.

"I hate to be rude, but isn't that too much for one guy?" asked Hawkeye breaking another buzz.

"The fight in Newyork alone proves he's an omega level threat. I want you freaks not to poke your nose into things none of your business" the UN secretary said rudely that made the heroes to feel little disgusted. After spending years to keep the world safe, this was how they were treated. Some things would never change. But the heroes never minded them, as the civilian population are still in support of them for their timeless services.

The heroes stood silent amongst the repeated chides they received.

"If that's all, you all can leave and this assembly can be adjourned" said the Secretary.

 _ **Flashback ends...**_

Things soon began to turn normal for Earth and with the help of several multi-national corps like Stark industries, Warren industries, Forst international, Rand industries, Banner Tech etc to name a few, with the technology they possessed and the monetary resources they provided, they were with all efforts, able to repair the damage that was wrought in to this world by the Chitauri invasion. But still, they are way behind from complete renovation, but the people will manage.

 **Currently at the X-Mansion...**

The X-Men that which currently comprises of Charles Xavier, Scott Summers, Jean grey, Emma frost, Storm, Colossus, Kitty pryde, Hank McCoy, Wolverine, Rogue, Iceman, Gambit and Night crawler were carrying on their usual activities. The X-Mansion was filled with mutant kids where 90% of them were left abandoned in the streets due to the mutant kind oppressors killing their parents in cold blood with no remorse for not willing to throw away their kids just because they were 'different'. The remaining 10% of kids were willingly left in the Xavier's institute seeking better protection for their kids than being left in the outside world. Their parents would come and visit their children at least once in a month.

As of now, it was evening time as the warm orange sunlight filling the place and the kids can be seen playing in the ground around the institute using their powers,

"Strike one!" a kid yelled and there was another kid, a girl that used her powers to control the flying baseball in her favor.

"Hey! that's cheating!" a third kid loudly complained.

It would be a wonderful sight for anyone. Prof. Xavier, Jean, Scott, Logan, Storm, Beast and Emma were in the head master's room discussing about the past week's event, more precisely the invasion.

"Last week was a total mess and I still got the itch in my claws" said Logan smoking a cuban cigar in his ever cool posture, to much of everyone's disgust.

"Logan, I would simply hit my head in every wall in this mansion rather than asking you to stop smoking inside" said Beast in his infuriating tone, his face turning choleric. Though he knew nothing or no one can convince Logan to change his attitude.

"Hank, if smash your head, you can't heal like me, so stop bitching and change the subject" said Logan letting the smoke out of his smoke raising his left eyebrow. Others simply nodded their head in disapproval and decided to change the subject.

"But what intrigue's me more than the invasion was-..." started Jean with a little amazement in her voice that was immediately picked up by Scott, her husband.

"Those strange fightercrafts?" asked Scott to which she nodded. In fact, everyone in the hall were surprised and astounded by the appearance of alien like fighter jets that killed off all the chitauri forces and saved them from defeat.

"Does anyone know where it came from?" asked the white queen, Emma.

"Did any of you get to see the fight in Newyork? That was the real game and that's what we need to be talking about" said Ororo which everyone acknowledged as they knew what they were referring to.

"You are right, Ororo. I'm too tantalized by this mysterious 'Spartan' as what he called himself to be. I believe not in a thousand lifetimes, I've ever seen a super powered being like him" said Charles, the telepath who managed to get to watch the Spartan fighting Skurge in Newyork. What really caught him more than the technological feat he displayed was the telekinetic powers and energy projection abilities he carried at his disposal. Not to mention the earth shattering blow from Skurge's axe that virtually did nothing to the Spartan.

The X-Men already have a fair share of adventures with the aliens, the Shi'ar where they had fought powered beings like the Gladiator, Deathbird, D'ken etc., But this Spartan was something else.

"I am very much interested with the technology he had. The armor must the most advanced thing ever to exist. Besides, I also got a chance to speak with Stark, Pym, Banner and Reed. The Spartan's weapons are something that even they haven't seen before. The most interesting part was-...was-..." Hank stumbled with words thinking about the impossible that happened after the fight.

"I know what you were thinking about Hank. He brought a dead girl back alive. Is that it?" asked Jean who asked without even the need to actually read his mind. Even the red head X-Men was flabbergasted by that. Hank took a moment to look at her and nodded still the brooding expression in his face. Actually, everyone were amazed by that feat.

"I wonder what kind serum could that be to bring a dead girl back alive. There is no such incredible advancement in medical science as of now. But he did-..." said Beast thinking of million possibilities of achievements he could make if he ever get to study a sample of that serum. But deep down, he knew he's getting way ahead of himself too fast.

"It's possible that he doesn't belong to Earth" said Logan.

"But didn't he say that he was indeed human to the Avengers?" asked Scott.

"Then the other possibility is that he could be HYDRA or AIM's secret weapon program or could even be some form weapon X program. The way he moved, fights simply screams 'Soldier'. He must be part of some black ops special forces group, even if not of Earth, some goddamn alien race" said Logan in an assured tone.

"But even they don't have the technologies he possessed. Besides, if it were those organizations, then why would they help us?" asked Emma folding her hands.

"Still you don't get the point, eh? Snow white? What use is of this planet to them if it's destroyed by the aliens?" asked Logan. This was a strong logic from his end. Even others pondered on his query for a couple of minutes.

"But that's a bit too much. We don't even know for sure. I agree to some point that he can't be trusted for now. But what if he isn't hostile as we and the whole world thinks and fears?" asked Jean who herself was astonished with the Spartan. It was easy for her to identify the telekinesis he used. Part of her wondered if the so called Spartan was in fact a mutant like them, although not sure of it.

"You are right Jean. For now, he could be given the benefit of doubt until we realize, he's not what we assumed him to be. But we all be ready for anything" said Prof. Xavier looking at everyone from his desk. Everyone except Logan agreed with the professor.

"Bub, I say we track him down before he throws his toys over us. Why the f**k should we have to wait to get killed!?" Logan upbraided the others in the hall. Others were glaring at him and tensed up a bit afraid that he might end up being stupid.

But he can't be blamed. Logan might act and sound like a stone hearted bastard, but inside, his heart was mellow. He deeply cares for everyone's safety and die tries to keep everyone from harm's way. Logan would casually sacrifice himself for someone who earns his trust. There are some mutants that see him as their father figure like Jubilee, his clone daughter X-23, Rogue etc.,

"Whatever-..." he said storming his way out of the room. Scott and Jean had their palms in their forehead because of Logan's reckless behavior.

"God! I just don't know how many lives should I have to spend to keep him from doing anything stupid" said Scott frustrated.

"Don worry Love! I'll try to talk some sense into him" said Jean placing her hands on his right shoulder. He nodded with a smile though he wished her good luck with her attempt. Logan was never flexible. He's either stubborn as the metal in his body or will break down completely.

"If that's all, then I may return to my duties. Need to check what the kids are up to" said Storm. Xavier nodded with a smile and the weather manipulator left the room.

"Well, I too will leave. Tomorrow is a busy day for me. Got a meeting with the senator. I have some work to tend to with Forge. Until then, farewell Charles" said Beast.

"Goodbye Hank" said Xavier with a smile. Beast then left the hall.

"I would admit honestly. If that Spartan is not as bad as you think, I am very much looking forward to meet him and see who's underneath that armor" said Emma with a smirk. Scott could easily surmise where she's going.

"Emma, is there anything that can stop you from doing anything we are gonna regret later?" asked Scott with his hands on the hips, nodding dis-approvingly. The ice queen raised her eyebrow,

"Why Scott? Am I that bad? Besides, you already know the answer to that" she said partly sounding innocent. But Scott knew her well enough what her statement meant really and he wasn't about to argue further. He felt sometimes, she too was no different than Logan.

"I will better stop there just yet" he said leaving the hall.

And the evening went pleasant as usual for the Xavier's institute.

 **Meanwhile at Sanctum Sanctorum, 177A bleecker street, Greenwich village**  
 **Newyork...**

Doctor Stephen Strange _ **(Animated movie costume)**_ , a former brilliant neuro surgeon and the current sorcerer supreme of this universe was on his usual duty. The past week was rough even for him as he too along side Scarlet witch had to fight the invading Chitauri forces in the north asian region around the KamarTaj itself, home to the former Ancient one.

Currently, he was seated in a teak wood table and chair, reading one of the books on mystic arts. He reads a lot keep his abilities updated and also to learn a lot about the hidden things in the visible universe.

"How about a nice hot tea, Doctor?" came a voice from the opposite side of the table. It was his fellow sorcerer, Wong. Strange looked up with a smile,

"Sure Wong. You too have a seat" he said. Wong sat at the opposite, pouring tea from the pot, filling two cups. He then handed over one to him and started sipping down.

That's when Strange looked up and started the conversation.

"So I hope the outside world is recovering better from the last week's mess?" asked Strange, sipping the tea.

"Indeed Doctor. We all did a great job in fending the invasion, but-..." said Wong whose face turned a little sullen. Strange could see it visibly.

"Something troubling you?" asked Strange.

"Yes. The Chitauri had never been this powerful. Even with you, the sorcerer supreme, was difficult to control the situation" he said. Strange agreed on that part as he too felt the same. The weirdest part was, he felt some magical essence in the Chitauri's weapon, that made it difficult for the master of mystic arts to fight them in swarms.

"Yes, I sensed a powerful magic at work during the invasion. The Chitauri's weapons were imbued with minor magic. But it was at the strongest, when I sensed Skurge's presence on Earth" he said as his face turned serious.

"But what really happened to Skurge? He wasn't in his regular self, the half giant" Wong said as he keenly observed the difference while bringing a magical picture of him above the table. But it wasn't a surprise to Strange, as he already figured out the magic behind the Skurge's hideous transformation.

"That was because-...He was infused with an essence of the Eternal flame" said Strange now getting out of his chair, slowly circling the table.

Eternal flame is a magical flame that burns forever, originating from Asgard. But it is also said that the fire is bound to a fire demon of Muspelheim, Surtur, by destiny.

"My God! Did the flame do that to him? Who's even so evil to commit something like that?" asked Wong feeling disgusted.

"I am not sure Wong. But for months, I have been sensing an incomprehensible amount of power in the Universe. The Orb of Agamotto gave me the real extent of this energy source" said Strange as the atmosphere began to darken with little hostility or fear. That's actually, the heaviness in the conversation.

"I don't quite understand" said Wong turning to look at the sorcerer. Strange lit up the cauldron of the cosmos. It showed the image of the universe, then multiple alternate dimensions at a time moving so quick. Wong took a curious look at that.

"The energy I picked up was sweeping through thousands of dimensions. The moment I sensed It, even paralyzed me for a few seconds. The eye showed me a breach in the dimensional barrier, but surprisingly, it was healed in an instant" said Strange. Wong having studied about these stuffs even before Strange came to Kamar-Taj, he could easily understand what the sorcerer was saying.

"What really caused it? And how is that it healed very quick? You, the sorcerer supreme with guarding the barriers and healing the breaches being one of your prime duties, how could it have happened without you?" asked Wong. Strange shrunk his eyes to get a better look, but for some reason he couldn't. But Wong was right on that regard.

When the superhero factions like the Avengers, Fantastic four and the X-men fight the threats that bring physical harm, had to protect it from the mystical ones and not just this realm, but many dimensions in the multiverse. He had to protect this universe from the likes of Dormammu, his worst foe and a mystical threat to the balance of the cosmos. Not a day went by where Strange hadn't come across him. They cross each other almost every time as if they were bound by fate. Even now, he's guarding the barrier between his realm and the dark dimension and Dormammu though couldn't invade, constantly sends demonic forces to torment Earth. Some times, he gets his job done by hell lords like Mephisto, Satannish etc., But ironically, there was a time when he had to help him when hordes of creatures called the Mindless ones threatened to destroy the very existence. Till this day, both struggle for absolute control.

"I can't say for sure. Something is preventing the eye of Agamotto from seeing it. It means something even more powerful that we have never seen before. I also felt Asgard-...more like decommissioned, collapsed, out of place. Literally, I can't even see the nine realms tied to Yggdrasil. Skurge was here on earth during the invasion and he was the one who led it. That was all that I were able to concur anything related to Asgard" he said in dilemma.

Of course Strange knew about Yggdrasil and the nine realms that connect through it's roots. He simply felt Earth being cut off from the tree, separated. He can't even begin to concur the events that led to such a catastrophe.

"Talking about Skurge, I hope you are aware of the new comer" said Wong with an evasive smile. Strange looked at him and nodded.

"This Spartan carries immense amount of power and technologies beyond comprehension" said the doctor who was baffled and stupefied after witnessing everything what the Spartan did ever since he stepped into the fight at Newyork. Saving a dead girl was even more to him.

"And when he did the energy projection that drained Skurge, I-...was terrified" he said with a mild distress in his face.

"Why do you sound like that?" asked Wong though he prepared himself to hear an answer, he's not gonna enjoy listening.

"The energy belongs to a realm called the 'Nexus'" he said which shocked his assistant.

"NEXUS!? You mean the realm that can be reached by the gateway through the M'kraan crystal?" he asked nervously.

M'kraan crystal, as stated is a means to create a gateway to an alternate dimension called the 'Nexus'. It is said that the Nexus is filled with the energy of trillion universes, THE most powerful of the realms in the multiverse. The crystal is originally in possession of the alien race called Shi'ar. They are also the race that worships a cosmic entity called the 'Phoenix force' which happens to be the guardian of the Nexus realm. It destroys anyone with no mercy and remorse who tries their way to control the realm and use it's energy for their personal gain and those who defy the Phoenix had only met death and destruction. _(A/N: The Nexus Strange mentions is the same one that 60th millennia humanity from Haloverse had been using for more than 10,000 years)_

But if what Strange had observed was true, then he, by all rights should be bilious.

"What you say is impossible, Strange. Nobody, I mean, NOBODY can use the energy from the Nexus and live. Even if they did, they would directly draw the attention of the Malevolent Phoenix" said Wong in disbelief. Of course, with all the myth surrounding the entity, this might very well have already triggered a problem that's soon gonna come to bite them in the ass.

Wong sighed in desperation and proceeded with the questions anyway.

"What's done is done, nothing can change that, so tell me what kind of person is he, Strange? Is he truly a nice person like he acted up last week? The other heroes couldn't get a read on him. But you might have already fully studied him" he said leaning back onto his chair folding his hands.

"Actually, I couldn't. Not completely-...Very surprising!" he said almost sounding wide eyed. Wong was thrown to fits as he couldn't believe what the sorcerer supreme just said.

"Wait!-...What?" asked Wong.

"I only managed to get half the information from my magic, that too from the eye" Strange said.

"He said he was a human to the Avengers. Is it true?" asked Wong.

"Yes, he's human. But-...but-..." Strange stumbled.

"What is it doctor?"

"I-..uh-... don't know...The aura I felt about his presence was different. He's indeed human, but not of this world-...more like a far away place...or I should say, misplaced" that was all that he were able to say.

"That's totally confusing. Misplaced?" asked Wong inscrutably.

"Yes, dear friend. He doesn't belong to this place. But I'm also not sure if this all means he's from-..." Strange said getting to the point un-nervingly, something he deals and had a great deal of knowledge. Having faced other dimensional entities like Dormammu and Umar, Nightmare, Shuma-gorath, even an evil version of himself from an alternate universe who was corrupted by black magic.

"An Alternate Universe? Is that what you are thinking?" asked Wong trying to complete the statement correctly.

Strange for a moment looked at Wong and had that urge to accept, but he can't be sure because, even with his mastery in magic, he couldn't completely read the Spartan which even more intrigued him as he had a little excitement in the corner of his consciousness to meet this new comer.

"May be or may be not...We just don't have enough to come to a conclusion" replied Strange.

"Alright, that brings me to my next question? Is he good? or Evil? the outside world thinks he's some alien and above all an evil force waiting to destroy this world" asked Wong looking straight at the doctor.

"You won't believe when I say this" said Strange with a smile that made Wong curious to listen further.

"Good is an understatement. I have never seen a soul so pure like him. His aura revealed that he's a warrior by blood, by spirit, A soldier who selflessly and above all fearlessly would give his or her life for the innocents, someone who would constantly beat the odds time and time again. This Spartan is one such warrior" said Strange without the effect of exaggeration. Wong raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really?" asked Wong.

"Yes, also he carries a potential that could have universal influence. But there's nothing I could see inside him beyond that. Even now, my magic is being resisted from searching him. He definitely possess technologies that could in fact negate magic" said Strange.

He wasn't that surprised as he had seen a lot in his life that nothing could surprise him a bit. In fact, Hank pym, one of the brilliant minds on the planet were able to create technologies with effects similar to magic, that also garnered him the title, 'Scientist supreme'.

But that wasn't the same with Wong as he was impassive at what he just heard. He now feels both the fear and awe for this Spartan.

"So what's the plan now?" he finally got to the last part of the conversation. Strange took a moment to answer and finally spoke in a neutral tone.

"We'll wait and keep watch for his activities and we'll resume our daily work" he said. Wong nodded in approval.

"Right, Now I need to finish that book and we gotta long day of work still ahead" he said cheerfully.

"That we do, doctor" Wong replied and both returned to their places to carry out their work.

 **Meanwhile at Shield Triskellion...**

Director Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, Agent Hill were at the meeting hall with the New-Avengers team that currently comprises of Spider-man, Nova, White tiger, Agent Venom and the inhuman Ms-Marvel(Kamala Khan).

They all were currently looking at a video footage of the past week's invasion followed by the appearance of strange fighter jets and the armored being called the 'Spartan'.

"Well, this is Ms-Marvel and right now, we all are engaged in watching a live action nameless movie with a thrilling climax. We all have cheerful audiences surro-..." she kept talking in her Selfie video that covered everyone.

Fury sighed and slowly nodded disapprovingly at the girl's childish behavior and turned to look at Hill and Coulson and raised an eyebrow to which both shrugged with a chuckle.

Kamala used to take selfies even in the middle of heated battle to other's dismay, but always kept herself alarmed of dangers despite dividing her concentration between several activities, which made the others wonder. This might even be an innate ability of her inhuman gene. It's normal that everyone actually loves her cheerful attitude and at times it relieves them of their stress. But that too can't be made a constant habit out of herself. The kid is also a huge fan of Captain Marvel or Carol and she was very much inspired by her into this superhero life.

"Ahem! Kamala?" called out White tiger. The teenage superhero stopped her selfie video and turned to look at the others.

"What? C'mon guys! This is for the record" she said with a glee.

"Well, your record can wait. But would you please get back here and focus on the current meeting?" said Spider-man that turned her fell irate. She felt as is her teenage entertainments are being robbed.

*POP* she looked at others deadpanned and popped her bubble-gum.

"Whatever!" she muttered rolling her eyes and took her seat amidst the others. It was a coincidence that the video stopped right when Spartan was giving a death blow to the deformed Skurge with oddly looking mace or hammer. Kamala instantly took notice of that and her eyes widened.

"So Fury, While the outside world is recovering from the attack, there's no word of that Spartan" said Spider-man who was eyeing the Spartan's image and was feeling awestruck with the level of technology and powers he carried.

It's not just the web head. But the entire crew was amazed by the Spartan. They already had seen him in action as shown by the media, so this wasn't a surprise. But still to them, he was quite different than every super hero they had acquainted with. Fury was more intrigued with his technology while the others are astounded by his abilities itself.

" _Not even the biggest eggheads in this planet have made anything like that. Who really is this guy?_ " Peter parker thought thinking from the scientific perspective.

"Our SHIELD headquarters and facilities all over the world had been in surveillance round the clock to keep an eye on this Spartan. Even SWORD base in orbit is monitoring the system if in case he's not of this world" replied Fury.

"But Sir, didn't he say he's human? At least that's what he said to the Avengers" said Nova.

"Yes, I've been compiling the reports on all super human individuals who are currently resided on this planet and none of them matches the profile of this being" Maria hill replied.

"We have also been interrogating the prisoners in the vault, the cube to check if they knew about this Spartan or did anything in the past to get into his shit list. But we got nothing from them" Coulson added his input.

Fury was really pissed off because he's got a new factor to consider regarding the world safety. Each and every time he had to keep a watch list of individuals that becomes a grave threat and to his frustration, the list keeps on growing.

"*SIGH*...I don't know how many like him are still out there under our nose. Man, I'm really starting to hate this" he cursed.

"But Nick, what if he's on our side? That is-...more like fighting for good? Just because we don't know him, doesn't mean he's a bad guy" said Agent Venom or Flash thompson, Parker's once rival during their days in Mid town high school.

He was quite supportive of him. He remembered his days as a bully and how he used to tease and pick up on weak kids in the high school. But over time, he matured and after entering Empire state, he joined army and participated in many wars. But the trauma he suffered led him to become alcoholic and coupled with that, he also lost his legs. But one day when he came into contact with the Venom symbiote, it replaced his legs with it's own. From then on, he found himself in possession of super powers which he decided to use for greater good. He then joined SHIELD as agent Venom under the recommendation of Spider-man and trained to be a fierce fighter.

"We can't say for sure, Flash, not until we get to meet him face to face to get the answers. Apart from that, we know next to nothing where he's even living and for how long" Coulson said.

"Not only that, Stark, Hank, Banner and Pym, all agree on one thing that none of the organization's, be it AIM, HYDRA, HAMMER, Stark tech, Banner tech...you name it. They don't possess anything with that level of advancement" said Hill.

"But I don't know about you people, I am pretty much excited to meet this guy" Ms-Marvel said with a bliss in her face and voice.

It's not a big surprise, ever since she learned of her super powers and the revelation that she is a super hero, she was pretty much entranced. It is as they say, 'Young blood craves action'. It's very much true in her case. This natural teenage drive was what got her amped up spiritually to meet someone who's a lot powerful.

"Well, before we all get a little excited, Kamala, I think you need to go home to do your home work. You gotta lot of math to work out" Spider-man said folding his hands.

"But...I-...grrh!" she grunted.

"Fine, I'll leave. But nothing will stop me from meeting that man" she muttered in a low voice as she walked out of the room. Everyone watched her leave and then proceeded their talk. But unknown to them, she had already downloaded the footage of the Spartan in her mobile.

"So, what's our plan now? Are we gonna spend our time looking for him around the world?" asked Ava ayala.

"No. Something tells me that we are gonna meet him soon. Because, our city nor this world had never been short of enemies. Definitely we're gonna end up facing a bad guy in town" Fury said rubbing his chin.

"And the Spartan would come to face the danger once more, is that it?" asked Nova with a shrug.

"Yes, until then, resume your daily routine. We'll call you when needed" said Coulson.

"Right, then we'll leave. I've got some work to do at the Empire state. Students are about to show me their new ideas" Spider-man said. As Peter Parker, he divides his time between spending time with his wife Mary Jane and aunt May, working at Daily bugle and as professor at Empire state university.

"See you fellas!" he saluted and swung his way out.

"See ya there web head" replied Nova. The others too went away to pursue their own works.

Now it was just Fury, Hill and Coulson.

"Sir, Just wanna ask you something" said Hill to which he nodded.

"What if he's not hostile? Is it possible that we can get him to work with SHIELD? His technologies would simply do marvels to us. We can have a greater chance against superior foes when our world gets attacked again" she said without a pause or second thought.

Coulson and Fury were pondering on her query. They too were wondering the same. It's true that Spartan's technology display totally caught them off guard. He simply, nearly killed Skurge when it was difficult for the Avengers especially some of the most powerful and efficient fighters in Newyork. But getting him to work with SHIELD is a long shot and truly an un-predictable outcome. They haven't got to that point, yet.

"For now Hill, there's nothing we can speculate and getting him to work with us is not something we can truly think off right now. It's a tempting idea, but not a feasible one" Coulson replied.

"Atleast for now. But as I said, we'll keep a close watch on his activities whenever we get a chance" Fury said. Coulson and Hill nodded in acknowledgement.

To their surprise, the day of meeting the Spartan is not too far.

 **At the Baxter building...**

Baxter was home to the Fantastic four. Once only 5 floors were rented out to the superhero family. But when the building became constant target to the attacks by super villains, Reed bought the entire building circumventing the rental agreement. From then on, Reed turned the whole building into a freaking science lab.

It was evening time and the sun had almost got below the horizon leaving only faint light from the far end of the solar spectrum.

"I'll be the cop this time and you be the thief" came a squealing voice of a little girl who had a toy gun in her hand.

"You've been cop for 5 times. This time I'll be the cop, you be the thief!" rebuked another kid, a boy.

"In your dreams Frankie!" the little girl said in her cute voice that was easily adorable.

"Then let's fight this out Sizzy!" the boy said almost in a fighting stance.

"How about you both be the thief and I be the cop?" came a woman's voice which drew both the kid's attention.

"And I be the big bad rock that will go roller coaster on you two" came another rocking voice near by the woman.

"Mom! Uncle Ben!" yelled the kids in joy and started sprinting towards them. It was Susan richards and Ben grimm. Franklin and Valeria richards are the elder son and younger daughter of Reed and Susan. Ben was their family friend. And then there's this hotshot named Johnny Storm aka human torch brother to Susan and maternal uncle to the kids. _ **(A/N:Franklin has not yet revealed his powers)**_

"Hey kiddo! Having fun huh!?" asked Ben laughing handing over candies and new toys to the kids.

"Is that new toy by any chance, an advanced synthezoid with multi-personality imprinted neural net processor?" asked the little Velaria folding her hands with an eccentric smirk. Ben and Susan were standing still with their face turning unscrutable. They were like _"What did the kid asked again?"_. Of course, when Velaria was 2 yrs old, Reed found that her brain patterns are evolving at exponential rate for her age. He also deduced that as of the present day, she would be as intelligent as Reed himself.

"Uhhhh...Sweetie? I'll get back to you there?" said Ben pursing his lips and left to see Richards and Susan chuckled at the sight.

"By the way, uhh...uncle Ben?" Franklin called out. Ben turned to look at him casually.

"Uncle Johnny said, he's got something for you in the sofa. Also said he's really sorry" said the kid with a chuckle. Ben's face turned glowering. He always knew that when something involved the human torch, it never ended good, at least for him. He immediately rushed to see the sofa only to find his beliefs were once again true. Johnny intentionally or accidentally, burned Ben's favorite long brown trench coat and oddly, there were pieces of marshmellows above scattered as if thrown in rush.

"Now I'm gonna break that matchstick!...YOU HEAR ME! I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR KILLING MY ALICIA's PRESENT!" he roared running in hopes of searching or more like hunting for him. It's not only because that's her gift, but also she literally went through hell to find a coat as big as that which would suit him just fine.

That's when Reed came hearing that only to see his kids and Susan with a big bag.

"So, somebody's pissed off" he said with a laugh.

"You know better, how things would play out between Ben and my brother" she said with a smile and they both share a kiss. But at that time, she managed to get sight of so many screens that were up and running something, videos to be precise.

"What's that you are watching?" asked Susan curiously as she walked her way towards the monitors only to find that he watching the video footage of the fight over the past week, especially, the fight in Newyork with the Skurge. Reed came nearby her and stood silently.

Susan also managed to look at some readings and deduced that he was analyzing those footage.

But then, her eyes were fixed at the monitors when the Spartan entered the field and started to toy with the very being that some of the most powerful Avengers had tough time fighting.

"Surely he made a big impact on that day" she said.

"It's true" Reed said sighing and going back to his seat.

"Are you analyzing him?" she asked after looking at the readings in the monitors.

"Yes, He's insanely advanced. He's got weapons that are even impossible to exist in our wildest dreams" Reed said flabbergasted by the idea of weapons that shoots protostars _(Pulse Fusion Rifle)._ Then comes his armor. It displayed variety of function and the one that could balloon his mind and blow it up is that his armor withstood a sundering force from the axe. Then comes the teleportation. To teleport an object would require immense amount of energy and especially to teleport during random movement inside an armor requires ultra precise 4-D curvature metrics calculation for entry and exit. He wondered who's someone that advanced to make something like that happen. Even the armor expert, Tony Stark proved that kind of translocation is impossible to achieve.

"The strange hammer he carried actually sucked power from the quantum vaccum. Years back, I developed once such device for unlimited power source. But it was as big as the Baxter and still couldn't sustain itself. I had to shut it down before it suffered catastrophic matter annihilation. But-...but look at that guy! He's able power and channel energy from something as small as that hammer-...Easily!" Reed said though amazed by the technological marvel, he was quite despondent that he couldn't achieve something like that despite die trying in the past. Reed might be one of the brightest minds, but he never let his wits get to his head and inflate with ego. He was never shy or afraid of admitting not knowing things to the fullest or having any knowledge gaps. But still the scientist inside him always strives to learn the unknown.

Susan, though not a science freak as her husband, she could quite understand what he was saying. In fact, she too was astounded by the Spartan's abilities. While fighting Skurge alone, he displayed variety of tricks he had up his sleeve. The most intriguing were the display of telekinesis and energy projection. Literally, she could say that the spartan curbstomped him before giving the final death blow, though he managed to escape.

"Reed, you can't stress yourself like that. Let's have dinner and you need to rest" she said worrying for her husband. Reed turned to look at her with a smile.

"Sue, don't worry. You sound like I'm getting mad at this" he said pointing his right thumb backward towards the monitors.

"Aren't you?" she castigated back folding her hands.

"No. I'm just curious who this Spartan might actually be. Is he a human or an alien?" he pondered.

"That is the biggest debate, trust me. Though I have a mild doubt just like the others. With all that we have seen of him, I wonder if he's from-..." she dragged her words, thinking of stating a possibility of the Spartan's origins, which Reed picked.

"He's from the future? If that's what you are thinking?" he asked to which she nodded. Reed too had that doubt. He already went with that theory but for some reason, he ruled it out immediately. Sue was not really surprised with all this stuff. Sue with her family had her fair share of adventures across the cosmos and seen things that would cripple normal minds.

"I'm not sure about that. In fact, I would just rule out that possibility" he said. Reed knew better that when someone travels back through time, they leave an immense amount of tachyon waves. Reed has built a sensor long back to pickup on that waves to check for temporal displacement. In that case, this Spartan had no such residues around him that Reed's sensors had picked up.

"My Sensors didn't pick up the chrono-displacement residues. So he must definitely be an Alien being in disguise. A harbinger of another invasion, who knows-...Or is it possible that he might be from an Alternate reality?" he asked, with his face brooding of such a possibility. But he's not surprised with that, as he's the first ever on Earth to visit alternate realities, even universes. His first visit was to a place called the 'Negative zone' and their first contact with the natives, Blastaar and Annihilus nearly led to the destruction of their own Universe. But then, as the saying goes, 'No plan survives the first contact with the enemy'.

"You know Reed, I would very much care about whether he's a friendly or an hostile force" Susan said which made Reed to nod in acknowledgement. She was right, he had to worry about that. He's got a lifetime to explore the science, but only if he's good enough to differentiate the good and bad and stay alert of all dangers ahead or else he won't have a head to think.

"You are right. Almost every one is keeping their eyes open for his activities, that includes us too. If he's an enemy that we've not foreseen, then we are in for another fight of our lives" he said firmly working with some holo-consoles that began to shift the monitors.

"But what if he's a friendly?" she asked curiously. Reed gave a moment to allow himself to surf through the possibilities of goodness.

"Then I hope, he would be a very valuable person for our super-hero community" he said

 _"And an excellent opportunity to study the advanced science behind the technologies he carry"_ he thought privately of his own amusement.

"Okay, if that's it, lets grab the kids, Ben and Johnny and have dinner" Susan said as she walked away. Reed nodded in response and he gave one last look at the monitor that had the frozen image of the Spartan. Then he walked away from that room to spend some time with his family. Unknown to them, when they get to meet the Spartan, they are in for full of surprises and hidden horrors. That day is not so far for the Fantastic four.

...

But while the hero community has their opinion on him, elsewhere, there was a certain someone who too was observing this armored Spartan from a nation in the Middle of Europe. Someone who could have helped to fend off the Chitauri invasion and help fight the super powered Skurge. Doctor Victor Von Doom was in his throne with holo-panels near by him within his reach. There were huge Holograhic monitors in front of him. Like everyone else, he too was watching the same footage, The Chitauri invasion.

But also like everyone else, he too caught the inextricable attention of the Spartan. Doom instantly disliked and at the same time admired the armored being.

Latveria is a European nation that was conquested and annexed by none other than Doctor Doom. He rules over the place as the sole monarch. It's population currently stands at 1.03 million. The country can easily mislead anyone with it's medival appearance. But what lies within hidden are the world's most dangerous technologies and weapons of mass destruction developed by Doom. Latveria, technologically and culturally, rivals the nation of Wakanda.

He is a scientific genius whose intelligence would outclass even the likes of Tony Stark and Reed Richards in many areas. His life had a rough start, his mother's soul getting trapped by Mephisto, living a life as an orphan, an outclass. But his creativity drew the attention of Empire state university only to get kicked out because of a botched machine that exploded right into his face( _A coup set by Benjamin grimm which he greatly regrets later_ ). But that didn't stop his scientific mind as he began experimenting his own technology and also learned a great of sorcery that could rival Doctor Strange himself. But the fact was, Doom was the only one to harness the Quantum mechanical effects of magic to the fullest. The technologies he creates are often combination of Advanced machinery with sorcery, through which he had a great deal of advantage over the others.

He wears an advanced armor capable of sustaining his life forever and is said to be nigh indestructible though that will soon be placed in a conflict.

Right now, his eyes were simply fixed on the Spartan. He didn't skip a second of that conflict. He managed to record each and every move the spartan made against Skurge. Doom was an egomaniac and he never accepts others wits and always saw himself above others.

"Who is this man? Huh, I could easily say, he doesn't belong here or more precisely, this time stream" Doom thought making second guesses with the Spartan's origin.

"Definitely, I must say-...He's advanced and powerful" he muttered and just when he saw the part where the Spartan stood simply taking a planet shattering blow from Skurge's axe only to get repelled violently and knocked off the ground. That part really intrigued Doom.

"Nobody can survive that! He took a blow that could have split Earth into two and stood as if nothing happened" he said now standing up. He slowly walked down the small staircase in front to take a close look at the footage.

"His weapons, his armor, the technology it displays...and then these-..." Doom said pointing out to the strange fighter crafts. He touched the holo display and it shifted to give some details on it's engineering. But it was vague and unknown even to him. He had never seen anything like that before.

Then he get to see the Spartan's other powers like telekinesis and energy projection which were in fact a small part on that day compared to the fullest potential. He reminds him of many different personalities. He could feel the Spartan having that spirit of a soldier and immense power that he had seen among the likes of Silver surfer.

Soon Doom classified him in his personal catalog as a threat extreme. But Doom is quite different, he had outwitted beings even more smarter than him and it's only a matter of time before he knew if he could work the same with him.

"No one is mightier than the great Doctor Doom! I will capture him, find his origins, secrets and study his technologies. Then I WILL BEND HIM TO MY-...WILL!" he said in a deep voice stressing every word in confidence and rage.

"But I need to test him before I can subjugate him" he said rubbing his face plate's chin portion formulating a plan.

Then he manipulated the display to reveal a huge hulk sized being with a big red hemispherical helmet. It was Cain Marko aka-... the unstoppable Juggernaut, half brother of Charles Xavier. A mutant whose momentum is unstoppable and he tramples virtually everything he comes across in his path. Hulk was the only one who had ever managed to stop him when he was brainwashed by the ancient mutant En-Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse to be his personal horseman, War.

But as of now, he was in the vault prison and also deprived of his powers. He was nothing but a human. The reason being, it was several months back when he and Thor confronted each other when the former was laying waste to the city. Thor struggled a lot to put him down. Even the hammer, Mjolnir will lose momentum when it reaches him because of the force field. Thor had to use the god blast to knock him out which tired Thor to a point that he had to go to Asgard to recover. It was the last fight he ever had and the Avengers had lost contact with him. The last time he saw them, he told that Asgard was in danger and that Odin needed help.

Now Doom is planning to unleash hell in the form of Juggernaut and it's really gonna be a hard day for the heroes.

"Now that will be a sight to watch. When I let him loose, If the Spartan truly fights to protect others, he will respond to this threat. And with that, I will have completed my assessments-...HMM HMM HMM!" he said with a jest, letting deep laugh.

He then pressed a few button in his gauntlet and immediately, more than a dozen doombots appeared in front of him, all bearing his chrome plated face with green light in their eyes. These bots guard both the palace and police the entire nation of Latveria.

"Invade the vault prison and give-...this to a man named Cain Marko" he ordered. He then proceeded to give one of the doom bot a shining red ruby like gem that was as big as his palm.

"As you wish, Lord Doom!" they said in chorus. Then the doombot that had the gem in it's hidden container, led the way out and all used their rocket boosters in their feet to lift off and exit the palace.

Doom then rubbed his palms against each other and spoke,

"I have something to offer the city that would drag the Spartan's attention. Then no one can deny what I seek and what I want!" he said loud with a grim smile and went back to his throne.

...

 **At the Fortress flagship, Labyrinth of Chaos.**

While the whole world had their own opinions of the Spartan for a whole week, there was John-117, who remained unflinched, unscathed by both flattery and harsh criticism that was directed towards him by the people of Earth or more precisely, his people no matter the place. His flagship was slowly, silently orbiting the space between Earth and Moon hiding from detection.

Oblivion fortress vessels use "Spatial Fabric Oscillation" as a means of propulsion. The technique used here is using channelized gravity to distort space around the ship. The space in the ship's front will expand and compress behind. This alternate tension and compression simultaneously pulls and pushes the ship forward, thus producing motion. But still, Human scientists and engineers considers this technology, an old school as it had been in use since 31,000AD compared to their present time. But also considered as one of the most advanced and powerful form of propulsion technology. A ship as big as fortress using this technology without causing significant collapse of mass internally is beyond comprehension. Compared to this, Forerunner propulsion tech were far inferior.

In the past week, John had completed his personal mission of revealing his existence to this world by helping the superheroes to fend of the Chitauri invasion and fight Skurge in Newyork. A few hours were more than enough to cause a huge stir among the people.

During his days in the Covenant war, the Spartans-IIs were depicted as superheroes in the eyes of the public. Thanks largely to ONI, they were portrayed as immortal and also their deaths were termed as MIA to keep up the morale in the battlefield. But the Spartans never viewed themselves as such. They always saw themselves as soldiers with just enough juice to turn the tide of the battle, no matter the cost. John was even more vehement of that kind of perception. But his old and long time friend Avery Johnson tried to make him understand the level of people's hope.

 _There were several flash lights that blinked upon two of the important soldiers of the UNSC, Master chief petty officer John-117 and Johnson. The soldiers were cheering loud for them. John didn't get use to that kind of atmosphere. John was in his new Mark VI and Johnson was in hs standard white Navy uniform, who were walking along their way to the command center of the Orbital platform, Cairo station._

 _"You told me there wouldn't be any cameras" Chief said with a hint of distaste at the sight of media circling them._

 _"And you told me you were gonna wear something nice!" he retorted back. They both reached the doorway where two officers saluted them and pressed the buttons to open the door._

 _"Folks need heroes chief. So, smile would ya-...While ya still got something to smile about" he said adjusting his cap and both proceeded to enter the command hall._

John could at least partially understand why the civilians see those who help as heroes. If that's the case, to him everybody is a hero in their own rights.

John was in his personal room. He was out of his armor and the inner body suit. While he felt easy to remove the armor as it retracts into multiple fragments and vanish into a blue slipspace field around him. But the bodysuit? He had do remove it manually for which he is not amused every time. As of now, he wears a navy blue 'V'-neck full sleeved T-shirt, deep black jean pants and hiking boots.

It's rare for John to be outside his armor, especially in civilian clothes. But he has changed a lot personally, but not in interacting with the public and exhibiting social interaction. Besides, he had even more made himself duty bound after becoming the military leader. For the next week, he followed his usual routine of eat, sleep, workout, train and meditate. Yeah, ever since the Spartan IIs exhibited meta physical abilities, meditation has became a part of their regimen ever more than before. It helped concentrate and rejuvenate their abilities and keep their mind sharp and focused.

Right now, he was sitting and watching the hardlight monitor in the table that had live news feed from the Earth from different channels. One thing was sure, Cortana was right. He did really make an impact more than he knew. Even the footage of the Avengers meeting with the UN was shown. John was surprised to see that even though wary, they had already placed a little trust in him. But of course, he needed that trust to get back to his place.

"But why? With all the advancements humanity had made, with unparalled knowldge in alternate realities, Why would we still need their help?" he pondered. This question was logical. As of 62,558 AD, humanity had discovered a total of 125 alternate dimensions in total and even constructed a multiverse chart, a map to locate these places from their universe through highly advanced trans-dimensional metric algorithms that use more than 11-non dimensional values of linear space-time threads. John was very well aware of this. But to get a greater insight, he needs to speak to Cortana who can explain it better.

But ironically, Cortana's hardlight form appeared besides him leaning with one arm to the chair upon which he was sitting. John recognized her presence and smirked.

"So John, I could very well see you have made quite a great impact in this world. At this rate, many organizations, both good and bad should have already made wicked plans to subjugate you in their own way, ha ha!" she coyed.

"Well, then I've got a surprise for them. But we ain't here for that. The heroes down there don't fully trust me. So it's going to be a while" he said once again seriously.

"I know John, I know that well. But you and I know better that trust is a precious thing and hard to come by" she said trying to raise his hopes.

"That brings me to my next question, why do you insist on getting their help?" he asked.

"We already have dealt with these stuffs in our reality. Then-...?" he asked this time to get a sensible answer.

Cortana sighed and decided to explain it to John about the implications.

"You know how the multiverse chart is constructed, right?" she asked.

"I do" he replied.

"Then you already know that we had to keep our place as the base reality to construct the chart after we discovered dimensions like Slipspace, Denial of locale, Natal void bla bla bla..." she said.

"Your point being?" he asked standing out of the chair and folding his hands and rubbing his left arm fingers over chin to further listen to her.

"Where is this place in our chart?" she asked her face deadpanned. John for all his questions and doubts, finally realized where she was getting at.

"That makes sense. Without knowing the exact trans-dimensional coordinates of this-...reality from OUR chart, we are blind, like in the middle of the ocean in a storm" he said understanding the basic problems behind.

"A nice metaphor from a caveman, but we can safely assume that those who have these knowledge are aware of this and they must have their version of the chart in this world" she said with a chuckle.

"Then by cross-reference, we can finally find our way back. I understand" he said stoically.

"Pretty much. Also I have made the upgrades you asked for your Armageddon suit. The body suit has been fragmented and permanently bonded to the inner surface of the armor fragments that contacts your body. So it means your armor comes one with the body suit. You like it?" asked Cortana with a smile.

"Finally, a time I can save" he said to which she rolled her eyes.

"Then, what are we even waiting for? Why don't we go directly down there and ask for their help?" he asked. Well, that means he can get back to his place to see if things are alright without wasting lots of time.

"Okay and what if they see you as a threat? what if they refuse? We can't afford that. Besides, we have another job to do" she said sternly.

"Which is?"

"The Chitauri, we have faced them in 2 different realities. We need to find the root cause to prevent nasty surprises" she said. John reluctantly agreed on that part as this was pricking his mind ever since he got here.

"You're right on that regard. We need to make sure this threat is put to a stop, especially the one who tampered our slipstream transit. Talk about a mission across a universe. This could very well be a great find for us in our reality" he said, once again a flash of that shadowy figure crossing his memory lane also amused how humanity in his place would react to such a find. Cortana nodded in acknowledgement.

"Looks like a final agreement...Great! So, in the mean time, why don't you get down there and mingle?" she asked which made John to shrink his temples in suspicion.

"Now what are you trying to get me into?" he asked suspiciously.

"Seriously!? That's the best you can do? C'mon John, a military commander needs some rest and peace whenever a chance passes by" she said insisted. But deep down, she knew that socializing had never been John and the other Spartans forte. In the early days, the Covenant, Flood, the Didact, then many other new hostile species they fought in the other galaxies never gave them the rest they deserved. It was always one fight after another.

"You humor blows my mind, Cortana. But sorry to turn down your offer" he said flat faced. Cortana sighed and placed her right arm over his arm in a friendly manner, more like caring, looking at her friend.

"I care about you, John. It really tires me out to see you and the others keep on fighting. You deserve some rest. Sometimes, I still get angry with Halsey for what she did, but considering how things turned out, I won't judge. But-...but still-..." she struggled to find words. John let an evasive smile. After his Spartan family, Halsey, Johnson, Keyes, Lasky, It was Cortana with whom he had mutual understanding, as a family.

"I know. But this is my life. I fully embrace it with no regrets. Besides, what's the use of Strength and power when it's useless to other's welfare. It is a personal code for me to live by" he said with absolute resolve.

Cortana agreed on that part. The Spartan IIs represent the might of the now inter-galactic human empire. But sometimes she wished, her benefactor get a chance to put his armor down for good and start a family and settle down in peace for the rest of his life, but that mere thought was funny even for her. But even Halsey never viewed the Spartans as mere killing machines. She always saw them as the next step in the evolution of human race. Even a Spartan II named Maria-062 managed to retire out of military service after a fatal injury. She managed to live a full fledged civilian life, marrying a non-spartan and raise kids. But she made herself useful to UNSC by testing MJOLNIR series armor. It she who pilot tested Mark VI and stated _"When John wears this, we all can sleep at night in peace"_ during the harsh times of the human-covenant and John evidently proved that. Maria also rejected further genetic enhancements stating that she would like to live and die a normal life. By 3126 AD, Maria-062 passed away just because of natural old age. Her fellow remaining Spartan II brothers and sisters deeply mourned her death, though were truly happy with the happy ending she had in her life, free of brutal conflicts. Her future generations still serve as the Spartan IVs and some as brilliant scientists.

But unlike her, John and the other remaining Spartan IIs ascended time and time again and now they have the biggest responsibility in their shoulders. So family is something that they can never think of.

"*SIGH*...Well, I may not be able to force you in to this, but still you are gonna need to interact down there as a 'true' human. besides, I have even found an excellent opportunity for you where someone like you could stay long without hiccups" she said with a smirk.

John didn't understand the statement. If she were a human, John would have read her mind through telepathy as to what nasty surprise she had in store for him. But she's an AI and a hardlight, so he had to keep guessing.

"What opportunity?" he asked warily. She instantly shifted the hardlight display that John used above table, to reveal a bulletin. But not from any news agency, but from the Xavier institute.

"Xavier institute?" asked John curiously.

"Actually, they are in need of someone, a staff to teach the young and gifted children, something like that" she said with a shrug. John's face turned stoic and he leaned back in his chair looking deadpanned.

"John, don't tell me you are not interested. Perhaps, imagine the wide spectrum of knowledge you can share with these mutant kids. Surely it would be an eye opener to them" she said with excitement.

"What makes you think I am good with that? Besides, I am a soldier, I was trained to-..." he said gettign interrupted.

"Being one of the hyper smartest, you still keep saying that shit! Don't be a baby, John!" she chided back which made John to raise an eyebrow. Well, she might be true in that sense. Spartan IIs, even back at 26th century, they had heightened intelligence and creativity. But after constant genetic enhancement and the wide range of knowledge they gained for 60,000 yrs, they are on a whole new different league. But they never considered themselves as such.

But John paused for a moment to give it a thought. She might be right on that regard. Their mission is clear as of now. But they got a lot of time to kill, hence it wouldn't hurt to do something useful. Anyways, John had a different concern.

The world had just then learned of the Spartan. John outside of armor stands 7'7" and inside stands 7'10" tall. All of a sudden, an appearance of a tall and huge 230 kgs muscular man whose body is 3 times denser than Osmium is sure to raise severe doubts, especially among the X-men. If he had gone through the files, he knew that there are powerful telepaths who could read his mind or easily taking note of his odd appearance and it might even won't be long before they figure out that he is the Spartan. John explained this to her. Cortana very much agreed on that part.

"You are right" she said with her fingers over her chin and suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

"I know how to get around that" she said.

"What would that be?" he asked. He's already started to feel restless internally. He never freaked out, not so in a manner even when he faced the Covenant, Flood, Didact, A bloody Keymind and many hostile forces, even when he became the leader of Human military. But the mere thought of civilian interaction is giving him a worst day.

"I'm gonna create a fake identity for you. You are an ex-Navy SEAL, Special Ops Group...Rank? Master Chief Petty Officer. Besides, you also has a rare genetic inheritance that made you grow so big, huh ha!" she said with a laugh as she felt the last part funny. John didn't mind it.

"What about the psychics?" asked John seriously to the core part of this conversation.

"You have the most powerful metaphysical abilities of your own. You can evade and block psychic intrusions" she replied to which he agreed. The telepathic and telekinetic abilities from the X-gene is completely different from the Spartan IIs metaphysical powers that uses totally different concepts and beliefs, almost parallel to the Precursors. He was contended with the answers.

Also, those reasons were believable and John finally made his mind. He decided to do what she says. Anyways, he always admired the mutants, when he read about them in the files, he always saw them as nothing more than gifted humans. Somehow they mirrored the Spartans in many ways. He never liked those who resent them as outcasts and only a Spartan II can understand what it's really like.

"Fine, I'll do it and by the way, thanks for the armor upgrade. I don't have to be in body suit all the time" he said with an evasive smile. Cortana was happy that he agreed to her idea.

"So, When do I start?" he asked. Cortana grinned and relied.

"No time is better than NOW!" she said.

...

 **In the vast reaches of space...**

In the vast reaches of spaces, hundreds of thousands of light years across, there lies a huge planetoid that is very unique and odd in its appearance. But in the planetoid, is a beautiful city with neo gothic style buildings and monuments that have a grandeur appeal which can't be found anywhere, That planetoid is called 'Asgard', one of the nine realms of Norse myth. But now, all those beauty had gone.

As of now, Asgard was on fire. Trees, plants, buildings were burned in flames. The city was crawling with huge grey colored stony beasts that had nothing but a red visor like eyes in the head. It was more like they out numbered the natives.

'Mindless ones', creatures of the dark dimension that knew nothing but to sow chaos everywhere they step. The mindless ones now act as if in control of someone. These creatures were scaring the asgardians adults and children with no mercy pushing and pulling them apart to keep them in line. There was dread in everyone's eyes as some even thought that day was to be the end of their existence, Ragnarok as they call it, their prophesied death. They didn't even remember how this all started. The Asgardian soldiers were completely decimated by the mindless ones.

 _ **in the king's court...**_

"Please! Leave my Husband and my son!" cried a woman who was held by a mindless one creature like a captive. There were other creatures that were crowd controlling the remaining civilians. They couldn't do anything but watch the horror.

From the throne, stood a being in a red armor with a black cape floating on his back. The armor had a nuclear symbol in the chest plate. The being's face was human looking with demonic red eyes. The armor was alien in design with a neo-gothic touch. He was also highly muscular.

He walked slowly down the few steps to get near the woman.

"Ppp-...pppp-...Please! Leave us! We don't know anything! We swear on the all father!" the woman completely broke down in fear and tears were pouring out of her eyes. But the being after hearing her whining, he took his left arm to touch her face and then,

"Don't touch her you filthy monster! You will suffer for this!" a man who was held by a mindless one yelled in desperation. Near by them was a kid who happens to be this man and that woman's son. He was totally dreaded at the sight.

"Father!" the kid cried.

"Hmm Hmm huh HA HA HA-...HAH!" the armored human looking being laughed maniacally.

"Man still trying his best to defend his family-..." he said looking at the man's position and continued.

"Despite how close he stands to death" he said in deep voice that had both human and inhuman tone to it.

"We already told you. We don't know where Thor is!" the woman yelled. He immediately walked towards the woman and glared at her.

"Who did you take me for? A fool? You puny Asgardian! I your king-...King HYPERION!" he roared at her face to which she soaked in tears and mumbled in fear. He then took a few steps back and calmly said to the mindless one holding her husband.

"There is a way to pull out tongue-...Finish him" he said to the mindless one that was holding that man.

"NO! NO!...PLEASE! *SOB* PLEASE!" the woman cried.

"FATHER" the kid yelled and ran towards him only to be pushed away by the mindless one down to floor.

"SON!, Get out of this place!" he yelled as the creature pressed his shoulder hard

"AAAHHH!" he yelled in pain and creature was about to decapitate him only to be shattered by the sudden blow from a flying hammer.

"HYPERION!" a deep roaring voice came crashing the ceiling and pounding the floor. He was the Asgardian god of thunder, Thor Odinson _(original comic book version, but MCU version language, since I am not that good in shakespearean expressions)_. His body was flowing with lightning and the hammer reached his hand and he channeled the odin force in his hammer let an energy blast that shattered 10 more mindless ones. Thor was in his usual black clad armor without his helmet. He had his long blonde hair let loose to his shoulders.

"RRAHHH!" he yelled in warrior's madness.

The other creatures after seeing this started approaching him and the whole court began to plunge into chaos as people who were free from the creatures began running for their lives.

"Come to your demise, monsters!" he said and began beating up the mindless ones with his hammer and bare arms and legs.

A creature swung it's arm which Thor ducked under and used his hammer to break its legs, then two more ran to grab him. He charged towards them and skid with his knees on the ground and hit another creature's leg that broke and Thor shattered it's face. Then immediately leapt in the air and bisected the other creature into two, shattering it to dust. But he was swarmed instantly by 6 mindless ones and they all grabbed and almost covered his entire body to crush him. But Thor channeled the Odin force and blasted all the mindless ones with a powerful lightning blast omni-directionally. The creatures blew out of him with brute force. But it wasn't enough as more died, more spawned.

Suddenly another 8 creatures shot their powerful red beam from their eyes. Thor spun his hammer at blinding speed that blocked the beams. But was powerful enough to slightly push him backward. Thor gained his strength and broke free of the attack and threw the hammer to front that destroyed one being. The remaining 7 charged towards him. Thor grabbed one of the creature's arm and he easily lifted it up in the air and began sweeping attack on the other creatures. They all died and finally he threw the creature with full force through the ceiling. The creature broke the ceiling and got lost out of sight.

"ENOUGH!" Hyperion roared and the entire court hall became silent with the mindless ones stopping to fight. Thor was breathing heavy.

"You will pay for this brutality!" Thor said in anger.

"I was brought here by a higher power for a purpose. He wants me for a higher form of war that doesn't involve fighting a puny god like you!" he said gritting his teeth.

"You want war? I'LL GIVE YOU ONE!" he yelled and ran at superhuman speed with his hammer raised above his head.

As they closed the gap, Hyperion tried to punch him, but Thor evaded and hit his side face with the hammer.

*GRUNT* Hyperion grunted in pain. Thor immediately grabbed him by his throat and floated above the ground and threw him down with force that broke the ground. He then landed on him and landed two quick punches and then lifted him to his feet and threw him to a pillar with brute strength and instantly flew at hypersonic speed and smashed him over the pillar

*BOOM...BAFF** the pillar broke and Hyperion flew to the ground and broke the main door only to land outside the palace, in the courtyard. The other mindless ones saw this and reacted, but Hyperion stood on his feet slowly and waved his hand to stop them from interfering. He then knocked the dust out of his body casually, as if he wasn't shaken a bit by the seemed to have been enjoying it.

"That's all you got" he smirked at Thor, mocking him.

"You Bastard! Where are Heimdall and Loki? Where's Sif and the others?" he asked furiously holding his hammer tight. Hyperion tilted his head and keenly fixed his eyes on him.

"Answer me!" he yelled.

"Well, I will answer, my love" came a seductive voice of a woman that Thor could never forget in his life. His posture calmed down as he turned his head everywhere curiously to find where the woman's voice came from. He finally saw a greenish yellow mist forming and out came a woman with green attire of a sorceress. Her pants had strange serpent image crawling from her foot to thighs. Her torso was a green sleeveless frock that halfway covered her breasts. For men, she would definitely get a rise in them with her attire.

Thor was on the other hand was shocked to see her.

"Amora?" he called out.

Amora the enchantress is an asgardian sorceress whose magical powers rivals that of the sorcerer supreme himself. She mostly uses her charm to subjugate people but she had a secret love for Thor. When she admitted her feelings for him, Thor outright rejected her stubbornly. From that day, she was his sworn enemy. She was also the former member of the Master of Evil led by Baron Zemo and a long time enemy of the Avengers. The evil faction had been defeated by the Avengers more than once. But nevertheless, she was still loyal to Asgard. Sometimes she had also teamed with Thor in saving Asgard like once stopping Ymir and his forces when they were manipulated by Loki in invading Asgard, so that he could seize the throne after Odin's death. But Amora always have her own agenda, domination over the nine realms. She was never a good person, but once Thor and Odin both agreed that she could be capable of goodness if not for her evil ambitions.

"Oww! So you do remember my name" she said hissing.

"Amora, we have our differences. But you need to stand with the forces of Asgard during these times of crisis" Thor said. Amora laughed with a jest and slowly graciously walked towards Hyperion and placed her left arm to his right shoulder.

"I no longer belong to Asgard and you are not the king anymore. Hyperion showed us the true power that one can wield. Hyperion is our king and you will fall beneath him" she said with much hate. Thor couldn't believe what she said. He began to wonder how much Asgard had fallen from grace. He thought that after Asgard was invaded by Hyperion and the mindless ones, it would be defended by the natives. While he saw the soldiers die by their hands, the powerful ones like Loki and Amora would defend despite their hate for the realm and the all father.

"King? He's not a king, Amora. He's a tyrant and I stand no such filthy beings!" he yelled and threw his hammer at full force towards him. The golden haired sorceress moved after witnessing the hammer. Just when it appeared to smash him, an impossible thing happened.

Hyperion stopped the hammer with his bare hands and held it tight. His hands started to tremble with the pressure he was giving. Thor's eyes widened in shock. Even Amora was surprised. Thor couldn't believe that he surpassed the Odin's enchantments.

"No one can do that. Nothing can negate the enchantments of my father Odin, the one who is equal in powers with that of the ancient gods that created the universe" he thought in desperation only to be stunned by something at present.

And to his withering, Hyperion did something that he would not forget in his life.

 ***KRRKK...KRRRKKK...BAAMMM***

The hammer Mjolnir shattered to pieces that released a tremendous energy that knocked Thor off balance. Thor watched his hammer fall down to nothing but scraps. Thor was dumb and couldn't utter a word. His hammer is made of uru and forged at the heart of a dying star. It was said to be one of the most powerful weapons of the gods. But All Thor sees as of then were nothing but scraps of what's left of the once immortal weapon.

"Ha ha! You wonder how am I so powerful?" he asked and then answered.

"Before I invaded the nine realms, I fought the celestials-...aaaannnd-...I killed them and took their powers for myself" he said to much of Amora and Thor's distress.

"The Celestials are one of the primordial beings of the universe. You cannot kill them" he said feeling tired, but still couldn't reel back from the shock of what he said.

"Well, not anymore. Besides, with the new found power, I will subjugate the nine realms and then galaxy after galaxy, finally take over the universe" he said in a sinister tone.

"Why? Why would you carry this genocide? Who commanded thee?" he asked trying to find out the reason behind this. Hyperion walked a few steps towards him.

"One who commanded me is beyond anyone's comprehension, let alone you. So, all I have to say is, I am chosen. Now it's time for your demise" he said. Thor furiously turned to look at him.

"Not by your hand" he said and instantly flew at great speed and grabbed him. He flew at great speed and landed a heavy punch in his face that made him fall to the ground with force that formed a crater. Hyperion stood from the fall and Thor was already in front, landing two quick punches,

 ***BASH...BAM*** and when he punched the third time, Hyperion grabbed his arm to his surprise and glared with his red glowing eyes.

"I'm getting tired of this bullshit!" he said and gave a death punch to Thor's face,

 ***BOOM*** that sent Thor flying and he crashed multiple pillars. Hyperion instantly teleported towards him and grabbed his neck and threw him down like a ball. Thor hit the floor with brute force,

"AAHHH" he grunted in response. Again he teleported and started landing multiple punches on his face that would shake the mountains, a series of quick jab, right and left hook, uppercuts,

 ***BASH...BAM...WOOSH...WHAM...BOOM***

Thor started to bleed heavily in his face. He already lost half consciousness from the vicious beating. But Hyperion wasn't about to show mercy.

Thor still tried to beat him and he blindly swung his arm. Hyperion blocked and forced him to turn back and punched his spine with great force.

"AAHH!" he yelled in pain. Once again Thor tried attack with his right arm backwards. But Hyperion instantly blocked that and gave severe blow to his elbow joint that almost let a crackling sound.

"RRRRHHH" he yelled in pain again.

Then he repeatedly landed punches left and right, one after another non-stop potentially to a point of killing him. He also kicked his gut followed by a round house kick and a sweep kick that made Thor fall down. Hyperion then leapt high and landed a powerful stomp

 ***DOOOOMMM*** that broke the entire floor and the surrounding pillars.

 ***COUGH...COUGH*** Thor was spitting lots of blood from his mouth, coughing badly and gasping for breath. He was literally battered and man handled. Never in his life, he had taken a beating like that. He never suffered such a trauma when fighting the army of frost giants for nine months without sleep. Hyperion then picked Thor above the ground by his head. Thor desperately held his hand, trying in vain to escape.

"Now see the power of king Hyperion...Bitch!" he said gritting his and dropped Thor down. Before he could fall, He fired a fiery red beam from his eyes that was hotter than a supernova.

 ***FRRRKKKSSHHHHZZZZOOOOMMM*** the heavy sound of the beam from his eyes vibrated everywhere. Thor was simply blown out, the beam sent him flying and crashing on the ground at a far away distance.

Thor had never felt such an energy in his life before. The beam had burnt his whole body, including his armor severely. His face and body covered with blood and burns.

He slowly tried to get to his feet, but he can't feel his body.

"RRRRRHHHRRAHHH" he finally got to his feet only to lose balance and fall down his face. He was weak and death was inevitable. His eyes blurred and saw glimpses of his father and some old memories.

While Hyperion was immensely enjoying that, To her own dis-belief, Amora let a tear down her eyes because, no matter how wicked she was, her love for Thor was real. While she used her powers to seduce anyone to her twisted uses, in the early days, she had a new found attraction towards the god of thunder and always tried hardest to win his affection. To see this really pained her heart, but she had no choice.

She knew the whole truth of what happened all the time. After Odin died fighting Surtur, Thor became the king and got control of the odin force. Then in a few months, Hyperion came and changed everything. He and the mindless ones have invaded and slaughtered everyone in all the realms, Surtur, Ymir, Laufey, Malekith etc., all the 8 realms ruined with death and destruction. Asgard was the last and in three months, Hyperion and the mindless ones proved the Asgardian gods are no match to his powers. Balder, Heimdall, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, Tyr everyone dead fighting him. Hela was trapped in her own realm with no avenues of escape. It was never a fair fight, but a mass genocide. The only survivors were Loki, Valkyrie, Sif and Amora with the location of the former three to be unknown. Amora despite her powers, could never stand face to face with the Hyperion's cosmic powers and at last, her survival instincts kicked in. She joined his ranks. She herself lead the subjugation of all the nine realms by betraying everyone, providing him secrets.

But why the nine realms? Because, Yggdrasil is one of the primordial cosmic power source in the universe that would simply serve as an extra fuel for his plans.

Hyperion was walking towards the fallen god of thunder. Amora was walking besides him.

"To bad I'm not interested in killing you, that is if you are interested in working with me, thus ensuring your survival" he said with fingers on his chin.

"Thor, Darling! Please accept...If you truly value yourself. What has repeated show of arrogance bought so far in your life?" Amora asked with a smirk though deep down she wanted him to survive.

Thor slowly gathered his consciousness and managed to look at them both.

"I-..uh-...I uh-...I will never bow down to the likes of you. You- *COUGH*..you don't deserve to be in Asgard, You will pay for this betrayal" he said to Amora in a low stressed voice, feeling weak both physically and mentally.

"Why you-..." Amora gritted her teeth only to be stopped by Hyperion.

"Amora, he made his decision. We must respect that" he said maniacally and looked at Thor.

"Then your former highness, I thereby pardon you-...from this sick life" he said lifting Thor telekinetically in the air taking one last look at the thunderer and...

"Adios" he said throwing him out in space. Thor flew uncontrollably into the endless void and in seconds, he was no where to be seen, vanished among the countless stars. Thus was the end of the Asgardian god of thunder and the very last of the Asgardian defenders.

"Come Enchantress, We got lot to do" he said while Amora was disheartened with how things turned out. When she turned around, both heard a sudden whizzing sound that they found to be a portal from the bifrost. And in a moment, out of the portal came a huge demonic figure with flaming body with an axe in it's hand.

"Yoa-...Your majesty!" the creature rumbled it's mouth and walked uncontrollably holding his chest with it's arm. The huge being was gasping for breath.

"SKURGE! What the hell happened? Did you take over Earth with the Chitauri forces I gave you?" Hyperion questioned with absolute authority, confused with the way Skurge approached him. He took his time to reply.

"I am sorry to say that I am a bearer-...huh-...bearer of a bad news" he said with guilt.

"WHAT" he yelled in anger as if he heard that is general faced defeat at the hands of Earth's mightiest heroes.

Amora instantly shifted her hands to summon a magic glow and brought it near Skuge's head. She instantly absorbed his memories since his arrival on Earth and after few minutes, she go to the important part of the invasion and her eyes widened in dis-belief and her face turned pale. Hyperion got note of it and asked her,

"What is that you saw, Enchantress?" he asked who slowly took her hands away, yet still entranced with what she saw. She slowly looked at him and said.

"It is a bad news, Hyperion. One that needs your attention" she said depressed.

...

 **Newyork city, July 5, 2030 17:30 PM**  
 **Xavier Institue...**

Outside the Xavier's institute's main gate, a bright yellow portal opened and out came John-117 in a civilian attire(same full sleeved v-neck and black jean with hiking boots). John then turned to look at the closing portal and sighed.

"Hope this goes well" he thought. But no matter what, John was determined that once he get this job, he would do his best to teach and train the kids. He even internally amused himself with the way Cortana persuaded him to do this. He took a moment to look around to see lots of trees and a chill air that really gave pleasant calm to his mind, more like a calmness he often sought after fighting a war. He smiled at the beauty of the environment. He thought that the Professor Xavier was good at choosing places to st up an institute.

"They do maintain this place well" he thought with an evasive smile.

Suddenly a voice came from an automated speaker and a hologram appeared.

"Greetings and welcome to the Xavier Institute for the gifted. How may I assist you?" the hologram asked monotonically.

"I am here to meet professor Xavier. He asked for a new staff" John replied.

"One moment please...Please walk through this gate" the hologram said and vanished. Then the gate opened and John walked inside. After walking along the park, he got to see the main institute building whose courtyard was filled with cheerful mutant kids playing.

He then entered the field to get into the sight of all the kids and teenage mutants who stopped their playing and stared at the big man who was walking his way towards the building. John's acute hearing could pick up lots of murmurs the kids were raising. He could see the kids were talking about him, especially the way he looked and his height. Some commented on his muscularity, how massive he was. Few conversed on a debate that he might be a mutant who had come to join the institute. But John was used to receiving stares and comments since the Spartan IIs came into existence.

Many kids started to follow John curiously and one even managed to start a conversation.

"Uhhhh...Excuse me?" a kid, a girl called. John turned to look at a kid with a football in her hands. He smiled at her,

"Greetings kid, what's your name?" asked John to ease the atmosphere. He knelt down to see her face clearly.

"Rahne Sinclair" she said.

"Glad to meet you, Rahne" he said with a smile and lent his hand. The kid warily returned the smile and shook his hands.

"So, have you come to join the institute?" she asked curiously.

"In a way, yes" he replied.

"Are you a mutant? Where do you come from?" another boy asked with same excitement.

"What are your powers?" a third kid asked, literally pouring him down with questions.

"And who are you questioning, kids?" a voice of an adult female came from the side. She was young slender black woman in early thirties with a snow white hair. John turned to look at her and stood back at his feet.

The woman's eyes instantly widened in surprise at his stature and build. He was taller and muscular. To be frank, the woman had her heart skip a beat. She judged the man to be in his early thirties suggested by his young matured face with black short trimmed beard, mustache and goatee. She also finds him attractive and already felt intimidating in his presence. At the same time, she was also wary of this new comer.

"Greetings, Welcome to Xavier?" she said as she studied the man. She had to look at him by tilting her head up as he was 7'7" taller and having a hard time looking into his aquamarine blue eyes.

"Glad to be here, Mam" he said shaking her hands lightly, managing not to crush her hand.

"I am Ororo Munroe and please call me Ororo...Mr.-..?" she queried not knowing his name.

"John Mendez Halsey and you may call me John. I am from Boston" he said with a smile.

"Pleasure to meet you John. So what brings you to this institute?" she asked.

"I was told by a friend that Xavier Institute's been looking for a staff. So I thought I could give a try" he said.

"Really!? That's so good to hear and generous of you" she said, shrinking her eyebrows in mild suspicion. She couldn't get a proper read on him.

"Please forgive me if this question is offensive, but I would like to know if you are a-..well-...um...you know?" she asked curiously yet struggling to ask bluntly to his face. The institute never had any visitors in a long time. He was different, he could be easily mistaken for a mutant for his size and at the same time, he still doesn't look like one.

John on the other hand could easily understand her wariness. The humans outside had visited this institute only with the sole intention of killing them. Church of Humanity, Sentinels, they had endured a lot and John downright disliked the outside world's treatment of the mutants.

"Mutant or not? Actually, I'm not a mutant. I am an ex-Navy, Special defense forces" he replied which threw her to fits. She couldn't believe she was interacting with a normal human all this time.

"You are human!? I am surprised. This institute never had human visitors. But are you offended just because I thought you were a mutant?" she asked sounding anxious wondering why a human would wish to be a staff in a institute that's filled with mutants.

"If I were offended, I wouldn't be standing here" he replied.

"Sorry, but why a human like you would be willing to work here? They never showed any sort of interests in our welfare. They always ill-treat us like outcasts" she asked to see what kind of response, she would get from the man.

"If people resent mutants for the sole reason that they are just different, in possession of natural gifts, then humans are no different in that regard" he said which surprised the weather manipulator.

"I don't understand" she said intrigued by the man's speech. He turned to look at the kids and then faced her.

"Biological evolution is a constant in this world. Species evolve time and time again, adapting to a newer environment. Even normal humans are a natural product of mutations of millions of years old single celled organisms. Life evolved through mutation and they keep evolving. In that case, Mutants are no different than humans and are in no way superior or inferior to any other sentient being. This is just the natural way of the world and those who fails to see it, live their life as nothing but ignorant masses. We see people in day to day lives. Because of genetic disorders, some have extra limbs, some twin born sharing same organs, some are too short and too tall. Aren't those a form of mutation?" he said.

This answer really caught her off guard as she never got to see it from his perspective. Those were words of wisdom. Besides, these are the words of her mentor Prof. Xavier, ironically.

"But they hate us for having powers and our genetics, the X-gene. And because of that, they see us as freaks" she countered back.

"Then, what about heroes like Spider-man, Fantastic four, Hulk? Don't they have super-powers? A person is not defined by what he carries in his genetics, Ororo. But he or she is defined by his or her actions and the influence over this world. It's you who choose to be the right or the wrong person. I resent those who believes that they can abuse the gifts they possess to bring pain, be it mutants, humans or any other sentient life" he said taking a step to her side, looking at the garden in the front with an evasive smile. His thoughts went back to the early 26th century where Spartan IIs received the same harsh treatment from the normal people.

"Also take a look at me. It's rare for someone to be this tall and well built. But this was due to the gene I inherited from by great grand-father. Doesn't that make me a mutant of my own uniqueness?" he asked which struck Ororo's mind like a lightning spark and she acknowledged the sense he made in his reply.

"You also don't control the way you are born and you never asked for it. People ate towards the mutant kind just because of this difference is pointless and meaningless. Like I said, the outside world is not wise enough to realize this truth" he said once again taking a look at the innocent kids and the surroundings.

"Besides, tell me how much people are so called 'civilized' when they had relentlessly slaughtered hundreds of innocent humans and mutants alike who meant no harm, yet dies because of being different" he asked to which she didn't even have answers.

That was moment, Storm felt a change in her life. At last, she had finally met a man who had greater understanding and a wise tongue. She was really happy with the answers John provided and also she had this new found courage rejuvenated in her heart about the living rights, the mutant kind has in this world and also the hope for human/mutant co-existence. She was glad that someone outside understood things from a perspective that no one ever had before.

"And what a rude woman am I to not even have the courtesy of calling you in, instead pouring down questions" she said feeling truly embarrassed for initially having a bad opinion on a man without even getting to know him. She agreed that there are still men and women who had this wisdom like John and also more than happy to have someone like him as a staff who would serve as a great inspiration for the young mutants.

"I understand Ororo for being cautious. I am aware of the horrors, mutants faced in the past and how much they had suffered enough to understand your doubts" he said which made her smile.

"You speak out of pure wisdom, John. I have never seen a man in my life who had better insight of things, that too more in an intriguing way" she said as both walked towards the door.

"My life in the military, fighting constant battles, war after war taught me how much life is precious and that this world had always kept us better and we all should never take things for granted" he said. Storm was flabbergasted with his response. She wished that every person in the world were just like him. Internally, she already started to like his attitude. This may very well mark the beginning of new friendship.

"I have started to feel, things are about change for greater good. My day is already getting better" she thought amusingly as both her and John entered the building and John was greeted with the sights more reminiscent of a high school.

 **...**

 **A/N: That's it for now. Also I tried hard with different names, but ended up with the same name that Harbinger Of Kaos used as it really had a great ring to it and my own inability to come up with a good name.**

 **See you all in next chapter!-...CIAO!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Halo Franchise.**

 **A/N: Once again back after a long time, almost a year. Sorry, I needed time to figure out how to progress with this story. With multiple plot points coming and going out of head, it was really hard for me to focus on one thing. But now, it's alright. At some point, I have planned a crossover with Avengers Infinity war. Even I am excited to have Chief and MCU Thanos interact.**

 **jackmaner126: While they declassified those records to the public, still the sensitive parts are left as it is.**

 **SmokeTinyTom: Keeping the same name doesn't mean the designs are same. I just didn't feel the necessity to rename the existing ship class except the ones that are new like Titan, Juggernaut, Oblivion, Phantom etc., Well by 60k AD, you know better how the ships would look like. And for the spartan-IIs, only 8 are left and the early Spartan IIIs are no longer alive.**

 **Axccel: Well, quantum entanglement comes with two modulations. One is space like and other is time like. What you say is true for space like(time is same as velocity increase with increasing distance). For time like, it's different as the velocity is same, so the time between the quantum pairs is different with respect to distance.**

 **...**

 **Chapter 6:  
**

 **In a far away galaxy, millions of light years away from Milky way...**

Space has always been an unknown place with lots and lots of mysteries lurking in plain sight. It's all the same for both primitive and advanced civilization. Some hosts wonders and some hosts nothing but dangers and traps that only bring instant death.

There was a lone mini space ship flying at warp speed from else where in another part of the universe. The spacecraft was big enough to hold ten people. The ship was warping through space that had energetic dispersed plasma cloud, stars and planets and dark matter in the distance. There was nothing in it's path but the void.

 **Inside the ship...**

"Soooo, anyone saw my neural transponder-...Sheesh! I keep telling not to touch my stuff and you morons don't give a crap about that!" yelled no one, but an animal or a humanoid animal that can talk, strangely resembling a Racoon, except the fact that the Racoon wears an advanced suit with a plasma gun on it's back and a shoulder bag that has more of small yet incredibly dangerous technologies at disposal like pocket dimension vial, dangerous grenades etc.,. Above all, the Racoon walks with two legs.

"I am Groot!" a humanoid tree slightly growled at the Racoon. The tree was quite taller and currently was seated in a chair and drinking a squash juice native to some alien world. The sentient tree's name is Groot and "I am Groot" is the one phrase it ever says though the inner meaning varies from moment to moment and only a certain people can even understand that. It is said that it's mind is one of the most complex network among any sentient life and that it's race is not evolved for higher speech functions. Rocket was the first to find one of them on Xandar and both formed a strong friendship.

"What do you mean you didn't take it!?" he scoffed while searching everywhere, in the bags and lock boxes.

"Huh, you guys need to be taught manners" The Racoon muttered in a low voice.

Rocket Racoon was a genetically engineered being which strangely resembles the Earth based Racoon except that Rocket was highly intelligent engineer and a great military strategist and also a bit moody and is prone to get pissed off a lot.

"Rocket, nobody touches your stuff, you should know that. You always keep things that end up blowing someone's face up" spoke a human who just got off the pilot chair as it was on auto pilot during the warp. The human wore a typical brown leather jacket with hard black jeans and a belt that had a strange alien symbol.

Peter quill or Star-lord, a human alien hybrid. His mother Meredith quill was human, but his father was an alien named J'son of the Spartoi race. His father while on space craft, met an accident on earth. Meredith took care of him and both eventually got romantically involved. Peter while he knew his father's origins, has never seen him face to face till this date. Quill used to carry a nano-retractable space mask and dual element blasters along with rocket boosters in his toes. He was kidnapped from earth at young age by a band of space pirates called the "Ravagers" led by Yondu. But he got free and formed his own band of super heroes or outlaws as some would consider, called the "Guardians of the Galaxy".

"Quill, last time I saw you were messing with Rocket's back pack" said a huge green man with lots of red alien tatoos covering him. The big green guy was muscular and carried two blades in his thigh holsters and was wearing a set of pants and a bare torso. His name is Drax the destroyer. Drax was an alien who lost his wife and daughter, originally killed by Thanos on his homeworld when he was coerced to give up an artifact that was entrusted to him, that had the potential for unimaginable levels of destruction. When he refused, Thanos slaughtered his family for which he swore vengeance. He joined the Guardians to do right things and overcome the loss.

"I never touched anything!" Peter Quill chided back only to receive stare from Drax and a glare from Rocket. Peter finally gave up,

"Okay, I confess. But only once and that too for the Krylorian hazelnuts he bought and seriously...that's the tastiest nuts I ever had" he said that made Drax raise an eyebrow.

"For the love of god! Now what?" a green skinned woman came yelling at the group. The woman was clearly an alien but was still beautiful. And within beauty, lies the deadliest assassin in the galaxy. Gamora was the last of her species "Zen-Whoberis" when her race underwent an unknown extinction event. She was raised by an inter-galactic despot originating from the Saturn's moon Titan, The eternal Thanos. But she defected from him seeing his ambitions were too much tempting.

"Rocket's lost his transponder...again. Its in the engine room" another human said with a jest, walking to the group from the vessel's bottom floor.

The man had the look of late-40s but in his physical prime. He was wearing a black biker jacket with shoulder spikes popped out, a hard jean pants and biker boots. He was carrying a shotgun, a weird looking shotgun on his back with a utility belt that variety of gadgets along with a couple blue grenades that had green hologram button at the center. He had a military haircut with mustache and a scar in his face. His face could tell that he had led a life of war, eyes telling both stories of victory and defeat.

Apart from all of that, he had a weird eagle insignia in his left arm sleeve of his jacket.

"Yeah Cole, tell him that he needs to be a little more careful" said Star lord folding his hands with a smirk..

"You better jack up..." Rocket chided back raising his hands at Quill only to be interrupted by Cole.

"Guyz, we got a lot to worry about. Let's talk about the mission we are headed to" Cole said changing the subject and powering on the wrist holo emitter. It projected a red screen with some information and planet with someone's biological profile. He took a seat in the side to rest and view the mission.

"Before that, how's the engine? Did the conduit did it's job?" asked Gamora readying her guns and a alien sword.

"Yes, with the conduit-...*SIGH*..." Cole started before being brought to the memories of his past, that made him feel despondent for a moment. He closed his eyes for two seconds and then tried to let go of those thoughts.

"The conduit I took from my crashed ship was intact. Now the heat sink has 580% effectiveness and on the flipside, I have taken the liberty to boost the engine output by 180% and the warp drive's acceleration field capacity has been improved for greater yield. You can try it out in the next jump" he finished with a smile.

"Great! Someone who knows their stuff. By the way, how's our mission looking?" Rocket asked as he took the pilot seat.

"According to our source, the abandoned vessel belonged to an ancient race called the "Makluans". But now, it's abandoned. Our source says they had been conducting an experiment with some biological organism" said Gamora bringing up the hologram with all the details.

"Let me guess, Things went FUBAR" said Cole rubbing his chin to which she shrugged.

"I am Groot!" Groot voiced it's opinion that seemed to be in agreement with Cole's prediction.

"Did you find out who's our source?" asked Drax.

"No. So far he hasn't chosen to reveal himself. But he said there are still survivors and that they are struggling with-... "

"I think I see where it goes. These experiments must have something to do with the ship being abandoned and the distress signal that the NOVA corps picked up" finished Drax.

"Well, that's a nice deduction Drax. Hah! I'm gonna share with you some of the Krylorian nuts I borrowed from Rocket!" he said with a laugh.

"That's stolen asshole!" chided Rocket.

"Alright. So we need to be prepared for a possible long and bloody fight. But before that, What do we know about these Makluans?" asked Cole.

"They are ancient humanoid reptilian race who has their own powerful interstellar empire that covers the third arm of the NGC-1130 Galaxy. Their species are also physically strong and they stand 14 tall" replied Gamora.

Makluans are an ancient yet highly advanced civilization that presided the NGC-1130 galaxy. Their home planet was Maklu-IV. They had colonized an entire spiral arm of that native galaxy. Also one of their ships had crash landed on planet Earth in the Chinese death valley a long time ago.

"So warm blooded huh!? Fine" Cole said with a smirk. But Star lord's face turned confused as if something's been worrying him. Drax noted it and decided to talk.

"Any problem Quill?" asked Drax.

"Yes. I don't buy this bullshit!" he said with mild distaste that made other to give him a confused look.

"I am Groot!?" said Groot, that voiced doubt.

"Quill, you always come up with good plan and end up screwing it. Now what this time!?" Asked Rocket folding it's hands, rotating it's pilot seat to face him.

"I mean, C'mon! Makluans asking for help? They are one of the most powerful civilizations ever to exist and they make Kree, Skrulls and the Shi'ar run for their money all at the same time. They are not the kind that NEEDS help" he said that made other ponder on his statement.

"You think this might be a trap? Like our mysterious information provider could be luring us into?" asked Drax.

"Or it could be that there must be something terrible even the reptiles find hard time shakin' em" finished Cole.

"I am Groot!" Groot said agreeing with the Cole's statement.

"Thanks for the support Groot" he said with a smile.

"Either way, we are proceeding with the mission, collect data and report to the NOVA corps...*Ahem*...That is if we don't find anything interesting that could make us rich, Hah!" Rocket finished with a grin.

"Rocket, we will worry about that later" said Gamora.

"Right, let's get ready people. We are nearing this vessel and drop out of warp in 2 minutes" Quill said as every one readied their weapons. Cole took another strange weapon, that resembled two jaws and one might surmise that whatever the ammo was, will be shot between them. It was huge and lengthy. He placed it in the back where he had another strange looking Black shotgun. Gamora had two swords of odd design along with a laser rifle. Drax carried two combat knives along with a flame thrower.

"Alright people, dropping out in 5...4...3...2...1.."

**OOOZZZZZ BAAFFFF** The Milano exited warp just a 50 kilometers away from a huge circular alien vessel in front that had been burning and smoking here and there around the ship.

"Holy crap! What could possibly have caused this?" Star lord wondered with his mouth gaping like fish. Every one had the same expression in their faces. Cole was a military strategist and he took a good look at the ship. It was beaten, but not only from the inside, but also there were visible damage to many parts of the hull. He could very well see that there were also no signs of ship to ship battle that could have caused serious spread of the debris. He then assumed that something serious happened from the inside.

"What the hell happened to this ship?" Drax asked in a trembling voice looking at battered ship.

"And what is that green gas I am seeing leaking out around the ship" asked Gamora as others too could see what she saw.

* ***ALARM** "WARNING!...CRITICAL BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION DETECTED!** " Milano's computer raised the alarm.

"Looks like we got an answer for that mystery" said Cole still looking wary at the ship.

"I am Groot!...I am Groot!" Groot said in two different expressions which rocket understood.

"You are right. We need to make sure we don't come into contact with that bio gas or mist or whatever!" replied Rocket.

"Then we wear the space suits and infiltrate the ship. Sure these Makluans got their ass handed to them by something" said Rocket getting to the below deck to prep the space suits for everyone.

"I don't know about this, but I got a weird feeling about this mission. Something's definitely not right" said Starlord.

"Then let's make it right!" Drax said enthusiastically, bumping his fist. Quill simply shrugged at that.

 **A few minutes later...**

The Milano's mini airlock opened and the six guardians exited into the space towards one of the holes in the Makluan ship, caused by some sort of explosion.

"Alright guys, once we are inside, let's get locked and loaded and we don't want any nasty surprise to knock us to a corner" Starlord said.

"Then we blast all the corners in the ship so there won't be any and surprise cannot knock us there!" Drax blatantly replied which made others to sigh and raise their eyebrows at his literal response.

"Oh, C'mon man, gimme a break!" Rocket cursed under his breath.

"What!? What did I say?" asked Drax.

"Nothing Drax, let's just work on our mission" said Gamora nodding her head, ignoring the blabber.

They all finally entered the ship through the blown up portion of the hull. While entering the ship they took a good look at the sides that were burning and everything was literally broken.

"Holy shit!" muttered Cole at the sight wondering what kind of attack could have possibly done this to the ship.

"Read your mind Cole" said Drax.

But suddenly they all caught Groot's attention,

"I...I...Iam Groot! I am...GRRROOOOOT!" Groot started to tremble while flying into the ship slightly shaking restlessly.

"Crap! Groot! What happened to you buddy?" asked Rocket showing concern for his tree friend.

They all landed inside the ship in a large hall that was dark and empty but with few holograms on the wall. There was also this strange green or more like sage colored gas that was filled in the atmosphere.

"I..I am...I AM GROOOOOOOT!" Groot yelled restlessly.

"Groot! What's happening to him!?" yelled Rocket. Cole having observed Groot scanned the tree with his helmet visor and the scans revealed what's wrong with Groot.

"Guys, He's suffering some kind of seizure" he said that stunned the others. Cole didn't waste any time as he rushed towards Groot.

"Groot!...Groot!" he yelled trying to get his attention.

"buddy, listen...LISTEN!...JUST FOCUS ON ME!" Cole yelled that could possibly echo through out the large hall.

Groot suddenly looked at the man that was holding it's arm.

"Listen Groot, There's nothing here. Just us...Your friends...You don't have to be afraid of anything" he said in calm voice that seemed to have brought Groot's senses back. Others were happy and also mildly surprised how Cole was able to calm Groot, even though it's been only a few years since he joined the team.

"I am Groot" Groot finally said after a minute with it's version of smile. Cole smiled back.

"Nice job" Quill lauded with a pat on the back.

"You seem to know Groot well just like Rocket does" said Drax.

But then Groot suddenly looks around at the darkness and the sage gas or mist that were around.

"I am Groot" he said warily.

"I get it. This place is way too creepy. No doubt you got jerked off" Rocket responded, un-sheathing his plasma blaster.

Everyone readied their weapons and began to walk cautiously to the next hall.

"Okay, I will try to raise somebody" Gamora said as her hands went to her communicator and prepared an open comm channel.

"This is the Guardians of the Galaxy, somebody respond" she said but there was nothing.

"I repeat, this is the guardians and we are here in response to the distress signal. We ar eon station and ready to assist" she said louder this time.

 **STATICSTATIC#$% ^#*#^**

"Damn it! Somebody's responding but it's plain static" said Gamora with a hint of frustration.

"And something tells me that's because of this strange mist around us" Rocket responded.

"Do you think, it's causing the interference?" asked Drax as he readied his knives.

"Yes, I tried to scan this mist" Rocket said as he brought up the wrist hologram online with the readings.

"It's actually some sort of spore and strangely it's causing the EM waves to distort. Huh, These reptiles surely messed with it" he said.

"I am Groot" Groot responded.

"That's right, let's get moving and keep our eyes open" he said and others nodded in agreement.

"Something tells me we are not alone here" Cole muttered in a low voice, as he got this weird feeling in his head ever since he got inside this ship. His instincts of his past life as a war veteran kicked in as he began to feel the environment around himself, the familiar yet strange hostility.

The guardians kept walking slowly towards the next hall as Gamora and Quill tried to raise anyone in the channel, but so far no success. All the six formed a pattern while moving to watch each other's back.

They all reached the next hall that looked more like a maintenance room that was humming with energy.

"Okay, My scanners read the ship's engines are fine. But-..."

**LEAF BRISTLES**

Rocket said only to be interrupted by some sort of bristling sound and it alternatively went lower and louder and stopped after a few seconds.

"What the fu-...What was that?"Rocket asked terrified of the sound, not out of fear but the adrenaline rushing in his blood.

The others were alarmed and they all readied their weapons pointing around themselves 360 degrees, over the top roof.

"Something's here in this ship. keep your eyes up and stay sharp folks!" Quill said.

"Alright, let's quit dragging and move in and get out fast" said Gamora

"I am Groot" said Groot with a simiilar response. Others nodded in agreement and proceeded to move. Groot was the last to follow.

While walking, he suddenly heard a deep snorting sound fro the shadows. Groot was instantly alarmed of the sound as his alien senses easily caught that. Groot became wide eyed and turned to look at the shadow only to see nothing. Groot warily stared at the empty space for a few seconds and then grunted and followed his friends to the next passage.

"Once again, this is the guardians of the galaxy. Somebody respond damn it!" Cole raised the comm yelling in frustration.

"This is starting to piss me off. I'm gonna-..." said Cole frustratingly taking his hands out of the ear piece.

"Ugh..Friends!? Over here" said Drax who went investigating the other part of the maintenance hall, interrupting Cole's talk. Everyone complied as they jogged towards Drax to the place, only to find something intriguing or more precisely, something ugly and slimy over the floor and the walls that extended over a large area around them. They were the same color as the mists and these bio-masses were mildly glowing, like bio-luminescence.

Rocket used his scanner to scan th bio-mass.

"My scanners say, these are decomposed organic matter...Holy!..."

"What was that!?" asked Gamora at the shocked Rocket.

"I am reading highly mutated Makluan gene content among this pile of shit" he replied. This information shocked the entire team. Almost everyone assumed that one possible worst case scenario, a breach in biological quarantine. Something had mutated and decomposed the Makluan beings, which very much connects to the bio-gas/mist that is in the atmosphere throughout the ship.

"Okay, this is something else. Look over there!" Starlord said asking the others to look at the place he pointed. At the other side of the hall, there were large broken canisters that looked like it once contained something.

"Okay, one thing I can surmise from what we have seen so far is, these Makluans been doing whatever research with these bio hazard matter and some accident befell them that caused this whole mess" said Cole looking at the others who nodded in agreement.

"I am Groot, I am...Groot?" Groot voiced it's opinion to which Drax replied.

"That's right. If Rocket's readings are true, then this bio hazard content is the reason for this ship becoming abandoned, with complete silence in their channel" said Drax.

**STATIC...STATIC**

"Wait, I am picking up something or someone!" said Quill with excitement at last hearing someone after a prolonged silence.

"All of us do!" said Rocket as every guardian used their comm and Quill once again tried contacting them.

"This is the Guardians of the gala-..."

" **GU-...GUA-..GUARDIANS!...LEAVE THIS SHIP...NOW! IF YOU-...WANNA LIVE!-...**STATIC**...*SCREEEEAAAAMMMMMM*-...*SCREEEEEEEECHHHHH*...** " a growling voice answered followed by a scream and scratching noise that was totally uncomfortable and made everyone to grunt in response to the pain in their ears and head.

"I am GROOOOOT!" Groot yelled in pain.

"What the-..." cursed Quill taking his hands forcibly away from the ear piece, with everyone readying their weapons.

That's when suddenly they heard the same leaf bristles sound only to be louder this time and it started to surround them.

"Uh-Ohh! It's that noise again!" said Gamora readying her sword and blaster in both hands.

Suddenly,

**BLAST...BLAST**...**BOOM**

Multiple explosions occurred in the walls above them.

"Look out!" yelled Drax and everyone evaded the falling debris. That's when they heard something and this time it came from the explosion openings in the walls.

And-...to their horrors, they all saw thousands and thousands of small sage colored glowing bulbous creatures with bundled tentacled legs started to pour out and raced towards them.

"Shit! What the hell are those things!?" yelled Cole as he started to load his shotgun and began shooting at the creatures that were running and leaping towards them. The shotgun rounds splattered them with the same bio-organic matter that slightly confused Cole, due to it's similarity to the organic content they discovered in the hall. Though he didn't give much thought to it as he and his crew had to see to their survival.

"Damn it! Burn these things!" yelled Quill as Drax took out his flame thrower and started to spit fire over the creatures as it started to react violently to heat and blast out. Rocket shot his plasma blaster that instantly exploded and even caused some nearby creatures to explode.

Gamora used her guns to shoot those things and used her sword to cut those things that leapt towards her and her team to make sure it never got latched on them.

"I AM GROOOOT!" Yelled Groot as he formed a shield in his hands and pushed away the creatures that leapt towards him and his friends. Then Groot formed a huge hammer in his hands and started pounding on the creatures that died and the waste content stuck to Groot's bark for which he was not glad of.

"Fuck! We need to get out of this ship! Rocket let us clear a way to the same exit"

"Before that-..." Rocket said as he saw two creatures leaping towards him only to be shot by Quill's element blasters.

"Blast it! We need to find a different exit. This place is getting flooded by these things" Said Rocket as he tried to overload the engines only to know that he can't do that in this mess.

Just after a couple seconds, as everyone were clearing up a path to another exit, suddenly they felt a rumble and in an instant they all saw a giant creature blasting through the roof and fall down near them.

The guardians swore that they had never seen a thing so ugly and slimy and nightmarish in their lives before. The giant creature's face was hideous and scorched and its body had the same bio-matter they all saw inside the ship and it suddenly released it's arms outward and roared at them as they all saw lots of protrusions from it's limbs and body and it was about to attack them.

They all turned ghostly pale at the sight.

"And I thought Yondu's Christmas present were the scariest things in the galaxy! Quill freaked out in fear at the sight of the roaring and growling monster, though not losing his knack for humor.

"RRRAAARRRRAHHHHHHHHH"

...

 **Xavier institute**  
 **July 05 2030, 18:00 PM**

John and Ororo entered the Xavier institute's main building. The spartan was welcomed with the sights of both adults and children who walking the past him and the nearby stairs carrying books and bags and other stationary items. To him, this was pretty much a school. Some of them instantly laid their eyes on John and his big and muscly stature. They were giving extended looks at him before proceeding with their works. Some were even making comments with the others. John never minded them as he was very much used to this in the past UNSC.

This reminded John of his training as a Spartan II in the Reach facility where they used to do the same thing. Unlike being abandoned, they were covertly kidnapped and trained to fight. Spartan II were educated in the arts of warfare and to balance their physical abilities with knowledge, they were taught extensively in the topics of Advanced Mathematics, Physics and Biology, Electronics etc.,. This knowledge would help them to use it properly and timely in the battlefield to their advantage. Even after 60,000 years, John and his fellow Spartans never forgot their learning, How could they?

This place was very much like that, but Cortana's files showed that not everyone had happy moments in their lives. Some are pleasant and many are grim, even horrendous. Some parents willingly sent their kids here for their betterment and bright future, but many of the mutants here were abandoned in streets or put in the verge of death by some fanatics, some even living a life of thief and pickpockets to get something to fill their empty stomach. He acknowledged Xavier's noble cause in having a place for mutant kind and striving for human-mutant co-existence.

"This place is really nice. You are doing a great job" John commended with a faint smile and neutral voice. Ororo smiled at him for his comment.

"Of course they are and glad you could see it. Come, let me introduce you to the other staff members" she said as they both walked inside. That's when they both saw two elders which John personally recognized from Shield files.

"Scott, I've been telling you, Anita's mutation is still in it's dormancy. Only the Adrenaline is what triggering the abilities, like a kicker" said a red head woman whom John identified as Jean grey, a powerful omega level mutant with telekinetic abilities along with a tag, the Phoenix force which John learned from the files that led to the interstellar conflict with the Shiar.

"I will tell Hank about that, she may need medical attention before her training begins" another man, who stood 6'4 in a tight skin suit with a long trench coat over it. He also had a pair of red shades. John identified him as Scott summers or Cyclops, a mutant with powers to shoot powerful beams of energy that has power output of 100s of megawatts. Cyclops was a noble leader of the X-Men and while he got to where he is now, his childhood wasn't that bright, losing his parents in a flight accident leaving him and his younger brother as the survivors. During his time in X-Men, he was possessed by an ancient mutant called the "Apocalypse" that caused him to turn evil. His wife Jean saved him, though at the cost of her sanity, as she temporarily had to tap into the phoenix force.

Jean smiled and responded to her husband,

"I knew you would see things my way!"

"How can I resist the charm of a red head who also happens to be my wife!" he responded with a smirk to which she blushed a bit.

"Here they are!" Ororo said to John to which he nodded in acknowledgement as they both walked towards them.

"Scott! Jean!" Storm called out and both turned to look at their fellow mutant and greeted her with a smile.

"We have a guest and a new staff, we asked for" she said as the husband and wife duo looked at the massive 7'7 tall massively built figure near her. Scott felt little overwhelmed with his presence as he could see the man was both calm as well as terrifying with his physique. Scott, even though didn't feel the urgency to be alarmed at the sudden visit of an unknown outsider, he mentally prepared himself for any surprise that might churn up, still keeping those thoughts to himself and didn't express it through his face. He was still wondering why this person has step foot in this institute. But he can't be blamed. The school had been under attack more than once, first by a mutant hater named William Stryker and then by mindless machines called the "Sentinels" created by an industrialist, Boliver Trask and many others including their own kind. so he had reasons to be wary of this outsider.

Jean on the other hand felt quite intimidated by him and even found his face attractive. But her eyes were a little curious as she could see his face appeared stoic yet million expressions from utter joy to extreme sorrow flashing at great speed. She felt the man before him was emotionally tired and weary.

"Greetings, I am John...John Mendez" John said in a neutral, yet friendly tone.

"Hello, Welcome to the Xavier's institute for the gifted. I am Scott Summers, professor in this institute" said lending his hands. John Shook his hand in response.

" _Whoa! He's got quite a bone crushing grip"_ the X- Man thought with clenched jaws due to the pressure exerted by his hands.

"And I am Jean grey, professor and wife of Scott Summers" she said with a lukewarm smile, lending her hand.

"Hello Ms. Grey" John returned a delicate hand shake enough not to break her palm.

"Please, you can call me Jean" she said to which he let a faint smile and nodded.

" _Huh, never seen a man with very little emotional expression, looks like a man with a rough past"_ Jean thought shrinking her eyebrows in mild confusion. Jean was one of the few who's been through a lot. Ever since the cosmic entity Phoenix force possessed her, her unparalleled violence led to many bloodshed of both innocents and evil people. Also with her extreme sensitivity to telepathic powers, she can't help but feel other people's fears and ba memories and was exponentially greater for the mutant kids who had horrifying pasts. Because of that, she always felt sorry and be kind and helped those who had suffered a lot to get past those trauma. In simple terms she's an exact opposite to Emma frost at certain ways.

She was seeing the same thing with John though it was very little to her surprise.

"John here has decided to join us as a staff member" Ororo said. Scott and Jean shared a look and Jean raised her eyebrow and a little shrug.

"That's really great. Finally we got someone we needed for the weekends" Scott said as he folded his hands.

"Weekends!?" John asked confused.

"Yeah, but let us not make haste. We will explain everything. Please come, Let's have a seat" Jean said as the four took a seat besides another hall.

"But before that, we would like to ask you this, Sorry..ugh..I mean...if it made any offense!?" Scott said sugarcoating his words not to create a problem with a man whom they just met. John easily understood where this was going. He then asked with a smile.

"You wanted to know if I am a mutant or not?" he asked with no hint of malice, just in a neutral tone. By then Storm answered.

"I will tell you all about it" she said as she proceeded to explain everything to Scott and Jean that Spartan said to her. Scott and Jean were truly amazed by this individual and instantly changed their wary opinion about him. It's because, the outside humans, non-mutants precisely, never cared about the mutants. Some ignored them and minded their own business and most of them were hostile. But the fact that the man before them had a whole new different opinion about the mutated individuals, a glimmer of hope rose for their struggle to co-exist with the world.

"We are sorry, John" said Scott taking a look at his wife and both turning to face him with honesty and awkwardness. Their words carried much weight, yet John was not offended by any of that..

"You don't have to apologize. Besides, I understand your wariness. I have heard about this institute as safe haven for gifted people and even learned that this place has been under...attack?..by outsiders?" he said as if he had only heard rumors. Jean shrugged and Scott and Ororo sighed as they remembered their dark past.

"Those are dark days we had to pass by. But we just learned to get over it and get used to certain nature of things" said Ororo. John could easily understand her words, the emotions it carried. This brought him distant memories of the early days as a Spartan II. They were not wholly accepted as there were some would hold malice over them, like Colonel Ackerson, most of the ODSTs. but he never reciprocated that kind of hostility towards them. After all, Spartans see humanity as a whole with no prejudice. They swore their life to defend their own race from all threats be it inside or outside.

If not for Xavier, these mutants would never have a future and a life like the other common folks.

"But, let's not spoil our moods. We will gather the others in Xavier's room for a meet with our new guest. Besides, everyone will be excited to meet you John" Said Jean as everyone got up. John nodded and replied.

"Ok then, I will wait here" he said to which others agreed and went to get the other fellow X-Men.

Scott, Jean and Ororo took the stairs to meet with the others. That's when Jean stopped mid-way only for the other two to turn and look at her.

"Jean, is something wrong?" Scott asked as he already noticed ever since they met John. The red head mutant didn't respond.

"Jean?" Ororo called out to snap her out of the quietness.

"What? Nothing" she replied instantly trying to get away from the topic.

"I saw your face and it was dull and distracted ever since we met John? Is something wrong?" he asked now with all seriousness. After a couple of seconds she sighed and answered.

"There is something off about him" she said. Scott and Ororo shared a confusing look.

"I don't understand" Ororo said.

"I can't explain it like Logan does, but in my view, I don't think he's some normal human" she said.

"Listen, I get it. But let's not do this. I don't think it's good to express our gratitude that someone outside was willing to work here...In this way. Let's do the assessments later. First things first, let's arrange the meeting and get Xavier and others ready" Ororo said to which other nodded in agreement and proceeded to move upwards.

Meanwhile John was seated in a couch, leaning front with his hands supporting his head. He closed his eyes for a moment to enter some sort of temporary meditative sleep. He could listen to lots of voices around him, his metaphysical abilities are able to capture, the other people's brain waves that echoed throughout his mind. The physical voice of people around him, the people who took notice of him and the comments they made, everything echoed throughout his mind. He did his best to ignore everything.

But then suddenly after a couple of minutes, he saw a distorted image in his mind that warped at light speed and the next moment appeared a dark, shadowy image with deadly red glowing eyes that raised a growl that loudly echoed in brain. Once again, it warped to form an image of the cosmos and it moved at hyperspeed, the stars, the cosmic dust and gases and appearing as stretched, elongated strings and suddenly everything consumed in darkness from which he heard a sudden high pitched growl and **WHAAMMMMMM**

"UGHRR!" John instantly woke up with his face tensed and breath rate increasing rapidly. His pupils dilated and his eyes trying to find something and but seeing everything. It was like something blasted out of his head. He once again closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind and controll his breathing rate and slowly opened his eyes to see nothing but the same calm institute hall that was still filled with students and other people. Then the automatic bell rang as everyone exited their classes.

"Not again!" he grunted. He then mildly rubbed his eyes with his right index and thumb fingers. This is the second time John was feeling this and even though his military instincts kicked off for threat response, he could clearly see there was nothing wrong with his surroundings. This feeling, this was one of the many times he felt, so he decided to tell Cortana about this.

It was then, he was once again welcomed by Ororo from the far off stairs after 15 minutes.

"John?" she called out. John turned to look at the weather manipulator.

"They are ready. It's time for you to meet them" she said with a smile to which he nodded. Then he walked towards her and both made their way to the Headmaster's office.

Both finally made it to Xavier's office where at last the got to meet the current roster of the X-Men. He noticed Logan, Jean, Scott, Emma, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Rogue, Iceman and at last, Charles Xavier, one of the powerful telepath.

Everyone turned to look at John and for a moment, their gaze fixed on him. Rogue, Kitty, Emma were totally dumbstruck with his physical appeal and attractive firm, chiselled face _w_ ith Emma silently trying to read him and only to be shocked the next instant. Emma is powerful telepath and she can enter people's mind even without them noticing it. But this John was showing no signs of resistance or at least that's what she knew, she couldn't read his mind. Though the ice queen didn't show that slight irritation in her face as she calmly looked at him.

"My my! Look at him! Did we ask for a staff or a super model!?" Kitty muttered with all that glee in her face, for which Rogue nodded with a smirk.

"You don't say!" she exclaimed back.

"Greetings Mr. John Mendez and welcome to Xavier's institute and we are glad to have you here. Ms. Ororo told us about your opinion on the mutant kind, to say I am happy that someone outside who wishes the same what this institute strives for long" Prof. Xavier greeted sitting in his wheel chair leaning front on his desk with a warm smile.

"Thank you Professor Xavier, That's just me" he responded in a neutral tone, but with respect.

Logan was giving him a sharp stare like his claw's edge that might look like he could pierce someone's body with that.

"You really look more of a combat type, mister. Were you in the military?" asked the clawed mutant who observed the 7'7" tall man.

"Yeah, Navy...ex-navy more precisely, special forces division. Covert ops, sabotage...you name it" John responded stoically looking at the man who had been keenly observing him..

"Huh, I could already see that" Logan replied folding his hands, though his voice was casual while talking, his eyes was thoroughly scanning him. Logan was quite astonished to see that this man was highly muscular and as tall as Colossus when in steel mode and could even go head to head and toe to toe with him on equal footing. But this brought lot of suspicion and doubts in him. Logan was a master in espionage and covert ops as he himself served a long time back for the canadian government and of course SHIELD. He can smell people and get a read on them and he would always be right about his instincts.

"So how about we brief you on your work, Mr. Mendez?" said Iceman, to which John nodded.

"I think John would be fine" he said with a faint smile. Besides even though he is honored to carry that name for himself, he still doesn't want to be called that way.

"We need someone to be here to take care of the institute when we are off to our own missions" Emma explained to him while carefully taking a good look at him. Emma was the most amazed in the room after meeting John. She was also hugely surprised about how he never minded her unusually attractive sexual appeal where as some men would definitely get instant dirty and crooked thoughts in their head which she can easily sniff out of their brains. Emma frost does that as means of distraction, but he wasn't batting an eye at the sight.

"So basically you are looking for a warden" said John lifting his eyebrow in humor.

Some of them burst into laughter as they really felt it humorous.

"No-..ha ha-..No John. We need a teaching staff" replied Rogue.

"What are your specialties? We could definitely use your expertise in self defense given your career. But we would like to know more about you" Xavier said with a smile.

"You are right, I can manage self defense, but even with science and history" John replied which surprised everyone. Charles and Emma were quite intrigued when they heard he was multi talented.

"Well well...This is getting way better! murmured Kitty with a smirk.

"So I do hope you would like to showcase your fighting talent in a danger room session, that is if you are at least half a capable fighter as you claim" Logan said mockingly, tilting his head. He was wondering if a non-mutant could keep up with the fighting classes as Logan. John for his part didn't react but simply look at him. But then again, he knew about everyone, while others didn't like the idea of that.

"Logan, Is that even necessary? I mean he definitely doesn't look like he don't know to fight" said Bobby for which Logan gave stern look, slightly irate.

"Ah well, Sorry for the cross talk" he shrugged, mildly gasping.

"Listen, what I am saying is, Mr. Mendez here is a non-mutant and I don't mean anything rude by that. I have been doing this my way for a long time and it's really really rock hard. But we all need to know if he can keep up with that level. This ain't some school. This has got lots of dangers and horrors at all the time" Logan said leaning back against the wall folding his hands. The others while still didn't like this, they acknowledged the valid point he raised. It's true that if he were a mutant, it would been easy. But him being a normal human they are not sure if he can handle stress of this place.

"I think he makes a valid point though disgusting" said Rogue, cursing under her breath.

"Then I can help you by having this danger room session to prove my combat skills" replied John who had been listening to their talk.

"Are you sure about that, John. We don't need a danger room session" said Scott who was quite taken back by his reply.

"Slim, I am not putting him through a rock slide. It's just a normal test. You either qualify or not" replied Logan calmly.

"Well, if it's not much of a hassle for you, then-..." said Jean turning to face the Spartan

"No it's not" John answered calmly with a chuckle.

"You see, then it's settled. We'll have the session after you tour the institute and before we all have dinner" said Ororo.

"Let's get over that fellas, besides, you also said science and History, how does that work out for you? I mean, spending time in fighting, how did you manage to study the fields of science and other base of knowledge?" asked Emma with curiosity to learn more about the man in front. John was so careful with answering this question.

"Well, during my time in military, I expanded the dimensions of my knowledge and abilities. So I started reading and learning a lot by myself, a balance to my skills" John replied casually not raising any suspicion.

"Then, we really hope your talents would be useful to our institute. I do hope Hank McCoy would love to meet you and have a conversation" Xavier said deciding to wrap this up.

John looked at him and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

He also already know that many X-Men here would go on for many missions that would leave the mansion more empty and that was the reason they were looking for a new guy. But he didn't show it like he knew it.

Colossus was the next to speak in his Russian accent.

"So, you ready to be part of our rank?" he asked.

John thought for a moment and he knew he don't really have much choice and Cortana would really get edgy on him. At this point, she can keep arguing with him for as long as she wished, while prolonged argument isn't something he's good at.

He still don't know why he accepted this, but her view of gaining trust and noble cause was still quite un-convincing to him. But deep down, John knew the real reason why Cortana so much wanted him to have moments of a civilian life whenever he gets the opportunity.

It was that one particular incident that he went through in the distant past, during one of his critical missions, that scared the deep shit out of everyone, including Cortana who believes that socializing would keep his sanity intact, distract him from past trauma that may surface back, especially during the times of battle stress. She's even surprised that he still managed to outlive all of that all those millennia, thanks to his hardened spartan training. Since then, every time John went on a mission, Cortana and his own spartan team would put him to severe psychological evaluation, especially after a mission in Andromeda to stop a rebel alien faction, he was even detained for a certain time being from active duty and if not for Lasky and Halsey, he would have spent his remaining life in ONI's cell.

As for the Spartan, he didn't even wish to reminisce that event as thinking about that itself makes him feel that he might become hostile to the very people he vowed to protect. So if it ever helped others to feel secured, he would do anything in his power to keep others from harm's way, even from his own and if socializing is what is required of him, he won't hesitate even if its not his forte. With all that in mind, he made his decision, also reminding himself of his own duties.

"*SIGH*...I do" he replied which made others to smile at his response.

"But..." he dragged his words for everyone to get his attention,

"I do love to do this forever, but I may move out of this city sometime and you will have to find someone new again. Don't mean anything rude, but you know-...I am doing this to spend the time I have in more useful and efficient way, hoped this placed would be better than anywhere" he said mildly shrugging and lifting his eyebrows. Of course, John won't be here forever. While he knows that his brothers and sisters would take care of everything in his absence. He still has duties for his humanity in his universe.

"We understand and we all hope you would find your experience in this institute, a pleasant one until then" Xavier said with a smile. John nodded in agreement.

"And for the record" John said taking out his cellphone and tapped something.

"I have sent you the profile" he said to Xavier where the telepath saw the files being received in his personal laptop.

"Well, that's good. Scott, Jean, Ororo? can you show John the rest of our place?" asked Xavier.

"Sure, Prof...Come on John. You'll love this place. We'll also ready the danger room for fight simulation" Scott said.

John followed behind and both exited the principal's room only for the others to stay in there to make sure they both vanished.

Then it was Emma who raised her voice immediately.

"Charles?" she called out seriously only for the others to look at her and him. Xavier was stoic as he already knew where she was getting at.

"I know Emma. I already sew it myself" he said keeping his face stoic in deep thought.

"Wha-...What is this about?" Kitty asked confused at the conversation.

"It's about our new staff" replied Colossus.

"What about him, he's not bad!" Rogue replied shrinking her temples as if she didn't see anything wrong with the guy.

"Yeah, I mean, he looks big and muscly and whatever...but I don't smell any creepy evil on him...That is...If that's what your concern is!?" Bobby drake voiced his opinion.

"Something's wrong about him. But not in the way that most other 'evil' guys we've dealt with. But he's hiding something from us. Huh, could be his past experience in the military"

"Storm told me how he explained how much he loathed war as much as he was prepared for it" replied Emma.

"He's definitely not some human. I can very much say that. Even the most psychically trained can't resist telepathic intrusion, especially from someone like me and Emma" Xavier replied.

"You mean you tried to sneak into his brain!? Chuck, if he had found out..." Logan talked, more concerned with the risk of hostility as how might have reacted to this.

"Logan, you of all people know that we don't have to get into their brains to read them. This man, John...Both myself and the professor...He was able to block us out both" she said.

"Emma, were you only trying to read his mind?...Ooorrrr-...!" Rogue said smirking at her which made others chuckle except Xavier.

"Oh really!? That's interesting" said Kitty sounding enthusiastic.

"For Heaven's sake, you should stop right there. What makes you think I'm-...I don't know why I'm even answering this question" She yelled instantly getting a faint blushing red in her cheeks. Well, that was true actually, she was indeed curiously looking at him.

"Don't worry Emma. There's no competition here!" Bobby teased that added more fuel to the fire.

"Why you-.." Emma cursed under her breath, but she suddenly changed her facial expression to confusion.

"But, I looked into his eyes..." she said seriously as the others were trying to figure out where she was getting to.

"They were tired and weary. And he seems to be concealing his emotions while he interacted with us. It could be that constant warfare did a number on him... _And why would he do that!?...on purpose!?...May be I can find out...He's definitely different than any other person I have met_ " she said and thought to herself. Emma was never a person to get into people's intentions and motives. She was cold and calculative in her own rights and with her powers and her evil past, that coldness is on roids. But John was someone that seemed to break her context of things...-and-...she's got a high degree of suspicion than curiosity.

" _But why am I getting curious in the first place!?..."_ she wondered and slightly shook her head to clear her mind. This was her past nature in treating the non-mutants as inferior to them. This was quite similar to how Magneto viewed the humans.

Others pondered on that statement, but they couldn't decipher anything.

"Despite all that, whether he's truly human or non-human trying to hide his abilities, I don't think he's a threat to anyone. That's what my instincts say and they are always right. I would say that our doubts and concerns regarding him are pointless" Charles said.

"Right Professor. Let's see how well this turns out. Let us carry on with our work, now that this is over. We are already in due for a danger room session" Colossus said in his Russian accent to which others agreed.

"Okay, see you later professor" said Rogue as the others bid farewell before exiting the room.

Xavier took a deep breath leaning back in his chair peering through his laptop upon the table at the image of John.

"Who are you really? This is truly an intriguing day" Charles thought with an internal glee in his mind.

...

 **Back at the derelict Makluan ship...**

 ****ZOOM ZOOM...WHOOSH...PAFF PAFF...KLINK...BAAAMMMM!****

The sounds of multiple rifles firing, grenades blowing and the raging rustles of the flame from flame throwers were the sounds that's been filling the air for a long time.

"Crap! Quill, we need to get to the engine room real quick. Destroying this ship is the only way to prevent these things from landing on any other planet" Gamora yelled.

"I have seem some worst things in my life...But never anything like this...These things are more like parasites!" yelled Cole who fired his shotgun at the little tentacled mushroom things and the huge things, that were once Makluan species.

"HAHHHH...HAH HA HA..." Drax yelled in laughter on the contrary to the situation. He seemed to be enjoying the violence of burning those things down that squeaked before dying. Others looked at him giving a bizarre look wondering if there was any difference between Drax and those parasite things.

"I AM GROOOOOT" Groot yelled as he make shift his arms as hammer to punch and stomp those things though he couldn't handle the stress as the parasite is having some sort of chemical reaction over his body.

"Guys, I got a plan. I am gonna blow up huge hole in the wall upfront. My scanners are showing it will lead directly to the engine room" said Rocket while shooting his blasters at the creepy things.

"Fine!" yelled Gamora who was alternatively using her sword and guns to kill the creatures.

"Alright, let's do it" Quill said.

Rocket then immediately took his bag to pick up a small machine and started to take a few more things including one looking like a tank shell. He then attached the parts with the machine and loaded the shell inside. Finally looked for a power module to make this work, but looks like he couldn't get it.

"This is why I tell people not to touch my stuff!" he muttered in irritation as that wasn't really a time to keep searching. Its only a matter of time before they ended up dead.

 ****CHUP...CHUP**** the sound of rocket's bag when he beat it to see if it the power module was even inside.

"Rocket, Now is really not a time for nap. Hurry!" yelled Cole.

"What do you think I'm-...Hah ha! Gotcha!" Rocket grinned as he took the power module and loaded it to the machine.

"Alright, Fire in the Hole!" he yelled and as others got out of his way, he pulled the trigger.

 ***BAMMMM****...

The shell roared it's way out of the machine at hyper sonic speed. In a split second it hit the far end wall,

 ***BOOM**** the wall exploded with dense energy blast that destroyed these things to a greater radius.

Others looked at Rocket lifting an eyebrow and chuckle.

""Door's open, what are we waiting for!" yelled Drax

"I am Groot!"

Soon after, they all ran at great speed shooting their way towards the blasted wall.

For all their adventures, this is the first time they have faced something like htis. They don't even know what these things were or how the Makluans got their limbs on these. But what they dread the most was that if this ship were the only one with the parasite or were there many that they didn't know and what if they landed on some habitable world, the results would be nightmarish.

At last they made it to the blasted wall and turned to see the monsters chasing them.

"Hooh, Finally, we are here" said Rocket.

** _ **MULTIPLE ROARS and LEAF RUSTLING NOISES****_

"Wait a moment" said Quill who used his element blasters to create a lightning arc that made the wall to further cave in and collapse. The metal wall just broke and all the support structure fell down to completely block the inlet and preventing the creatures from entering.

 _ ****RUMBLING NOISES****_

"Okay, now which way from here?" asked Gamora as Rocket was already reading his wrist hologram.

"This way straight and turn left, a 150 meters in front is the entrance to engine room"

"I am Groot!" Groot said for which Cole replied.

"That's right, this debris can't hold them for too long. We need to overload the ship's reactor core to create a wildcat destabilization of the engines"

"And that would blow the ship to kingdom come, let's go" Quill replied and every one agreed.

While there were still rumbling sound and distant screams and roars, their current pathway was unusually silent.

"I am Groot!?" Groot said in a low voice like a question.

"Yeah, me too. I hope this silence retains until we blow this vessel" replied Rocket who didn't like this one bit.

But then suddenly,

** **STATIC...STATIC...SCREEEECHHH****

"GUAR-..ANS-...GE-...AY...SAFE-..." Static brokeout in their comm.

"It's the same voice, but looks more strong then before" replied Drax.

"Guys, I am tracking the signal...SHIT! It's from the engine room. We have to go straight and take left. That's the engine room. I 'm even detecting a vital life sign!" said Quill using his mask.

"Then he must be the one who sent the distress call, let's move" deducted Gamora. As she said, everyone ran towards the engine room. They ran to the end and turned left to run another 300 metres. Finally they reached the huge door.

"This must be it. Let's blow it open, the console's damaged" Cole said as he took a plasma detonator and light the fuse that responded with a blue blinking mini hologram that hummed every time. He fixed it to the door and was about to explode.

"Back away!" he yelled as they all backed up a little bit. Then in a few minutes,

** **BAAAMMM****

Plasma scoring, completely melting the door as Quill used his element blaster to freeze the molten door. Then they all entered the engine room only to be surprised by the horrors inside.

 ****ZOOM ZOOM...(** _ **SQUEAKY NOISES)...(RUSTLING SOUNDS)...RRRRAAHHHH**_ ******

There were multiple energy shots flying in the air at the hundreds of tentacled creatures and the huge green creatures that had some sage colored liquid dripping of from the body everytime being hit by the shots.

There was a man or more like a humanoid, blonde hair, wearing some sort of ornate red and black space dress which would suit a prince. His eyes were devoid of iris and appeared glowing golden orange. Above all, he had something on his forehead that appeared like a gem, which too was golden orange. The man was shooting energy streams from his arms at the creatures.

"DIE UGLY CREATURES!" the humanoid yelled shooting at the monsters.

"You-...AAHHHH!" suddenly he screamed in immense pain as the gem in his forehead suddenly glowed in the same sage color as the creatures and even started had little sage liquid dripping from the edges of the gem, as if it was his blood, bleeding from the forehead. He was holding his head tight in pain and suffering as he smacked himself across the hall unable to concentrate in fighting.

The guardinas who were watching this the whole time were surprised to see this man here at the inopportune moment.

"ADAM!...-I am GROOT!" Quill, Rocket, Drax and Groot yelled at the same time in shock. But before they could even utter another word, a huge creature that no longer resembled the Makluan was about to attack Adam. Cole instantly used his shotgun to blast it's face, which wasn't enough to put it down. Drax joined by letting out the flames from his flame thrower to burn the thing down. It squealed before dying a gory death.

Cole was confused at the sight of the blonde human look alike with the strange stone in his forehead.

"Who is this guy?" asked Cole raising an eyebrow in confusion while firing at the alien creatures.

"Well, he's our old friend...technically...uhhh..biologically he's not too old, but uh-..." Quill awkwardly answered the question.

"Quill!? Guardians! I asked -..UHHH!...to leave!" Adam yelled but clearly visible that he was not alright and was suffering from excruciating pain.

Gamora helped him to get on his feet, but noticed the gem in his forehead that didn't look good.

"What happened to the gem? Why is it changing color!?" asked Gamora tensed at the way it was reacting. While others were firing at the sage beasts non-stop.

Adam warlock( _GOTG animated series persona_ ), an artificial being who was genetically engineered from an ancient human gene sample by a mad scientist called the High-Evolutionary. He was born inside of a cocoon that kept him in a semi-statis field where he would be nourished and grown until the time he's ready to come out. High-evolutionary was obsessed with creating a perfect being without flaws. But ended up opposed by his own creation due to different evolutionary path the being took and his personality matrix seemed to think in a different way. He was given a gem, a glowing yellow-orange gem of universal power, he was brought alive from the cocoon after the gem was fixed onto his forehead. High-evolutionary named his Adam, after the first man born on Earth.

After he left high-evolutionary, he went on his own path to find meaning for his existence or what not for years until he met the Guardians and befriended them. Quill even used to teach him to talk and behave like humans of earth which he found bizarre yet enjoying. Had his run with the Guardians for a few years, before getting separated again.

"I uhhh-...I don't know. Ever since I got here to help the Makluans after receiving their distress signal, the gem in my forehead is acting weird...More violent...It's like it wanted to kill me!" Adam struggled to speak explaining to his friends.

"Then it's no safe here for any one. We need to get off this ship!" Drax yelled.

"Right. Adam, the only way we figured out to prevent these parasite thingy beings from landing anywhere is to blow this ship" said Rocket.

"Then be quick, I can't be here anymore" Adam said as he was struggling.

"Okay. Rocket, get to it. We will provide covering fire" Cole said as Rocket acknowledged.

 **RRRAAHHHHH...**RUSTLING NOISES**...**

"Burn them all!" yelled Drax they all focused their fire on the monsters around them as Rocket snuck under their nose to reach the engine's reactor chambers.

"Right, let me see if I can interface" muttered the Racoon as he took a holo-pad and started to connect to the reactor's console. The hologram reported multiple information. Rocket then manipulated some buttons to establish interface.

"Rocket?...**BAM BAM**...You done yet!?" asked Quill slightly tensed.

"In a minute!" he yelled as worked.

"I don't think we will last another second!" screamed Gamora.

"I AM GROOT!" Groot roared as multiple tentacled mushroom like creatures leapt over and tried to bite him.

"RRRRR!" Groot grunted in pain as it reacted in a strange way. But he used his body to protrude sharp spikes that blew the things on his body.

"C'mon C'mon C'mon...Ha hah! Bingo!" yelled Rocket in joy as the interface was successful. He then set the reactor to overload in just two minutes. Also he took another remote control like gadget and pushed a button that glowed in green light.

"Alright, Job's done. The reactor will over load in two minutes" he said getting back to the crew.

"2 minutes? Are you fucking crazy? We can barely take another step in 2 minutes!" yelled Quill stunning to hear that the ship was gonna blow in less than a couple of minutes. Others didn't like this too.

"Ah stop whining. Look back" Rocket said casually as they all turned to look back. There was the inner hull with lighting, nothing more. Then suddenly,

**BOOM**

Then the hull blew open by an explosion directly to the space and all of a sudden, the engine room's air was sucked outside to the vacuum. Outside, there was Milano summoned by Rocket.

"WHOOOAAHH!" Quill yelled as everyone were dragged out to space at great speed. But suddenly Milano projected it's tractor beam over the Guardians safe-guarding them and were pulled into the ship safely.

Finally they were all inside and Quill immediately got to the pilot seat and set to full thrust,

"Getting to safe distance" he said loud as the Milano roared it's way away from the ship, so fast that it got to the vanishing point. Everyone slowly managed to see through the cockpit. Suddenly a huge ball of light flared in space that still shot photons to their ship and get reflected from the hull. The light shining on their faces piercing hte iris of their eyes.

"Shit! That was close. Hooh!" said Rocket letting a fast breath as did everyone. They were all finally relieved that they got out of this mission alive.

"Damn, I'm gonna need a fortune for this torture" Rocket chided about the mission's difficulty.

"What where those things anyway?" asked Cole once again which confused them all.

"I am happy that I burned every single one of them" Drax said to which Quill raised one eyebrow.

"I am Groot" responded Groot who recovered from it's injuries.

"Blast it, Groot" Rocket said berating.

"AAAAHHH-..." Adam yelled whose screams can be heard throughout the ship.

"Uh oh! We left Adam alone, let's tend to him" said Gamora as everyone went to check up on their old friend.

 _ **After an hour...**_

The Milano was flying through the endless space towards an unknown destination.

Adam warlock was drinking a hot other worldly soup to calm his nerves and fill his stomach. The Guardians took a good care of their friend until he was able to speak and walk by himself.

Everyone sat at the bottom deck. There was the sage greenish yellow colored gem hovering in the air, while others were curiously staring at the gem in awe. They too were tensed as they never seen the once golden-orange gem turning into different color and also a vaporizing plasma like liquid was dripping from the gem.

Cole was the most intrigued and confused. He had never met the man they call old friend, after all, he's new to the crew when he was found crawling out of a ship crash. He still was wary about the blonde man and the gem. For all his life in the 'UNSC', he had faced brutal battles, but never anything like this.

"Thanks for getting the gem out of my head. It was-...*SIGH*...It was too much to bear" Adam said in a calm voice.

"What the hell happened to the soul gem? Why did it change color?" asked Gamora glaring at the gem.

"I don't know. But it has something to do with the biological contamination in the vessel. But even I don't understand, how it affects the gem. From then, it was like my brain was on fire and this gem was like fuel being added to it" he proceeded to explain as others listened carefully. There was an atmosphere of dread and disturbance around them.

"Suddenly, the gem-...It wanted to kill me...kill anyone it sees...Consume everything" Adam said, his face dead serious.

"We need to hide the gem, it can't be used anymore until it cools down, if it ever happens" he said finalizing.

"No problem, I can hide it in my pocket dimension storage vial" Rocket said as he opened the storage vial as it sucked the gem into the mini vortex. He then immediately shut the box and put it in the bag, shrugging with a smirk.

"How could an infection affect an infinity stone?" asked Quill, his face expressing nothing but of things that never made any sense from beginning.

"A what stone!?..al-...Alright, give me a break. Can anyone tell me what's happening?" asked Cole folding his hands in a little frustration as he couldn't decipher what's happening ever since the blonde dude showed up.

"Greetings, I am Adam warlock. Friends to the Guardians of the galaxy and once a proud member of it" Adam introduced himself with a smile lending his hand. Cole looked at Quill and the others and then shook his hands.

"Glad to meet you, I guess" he said with a quick smile.

Gamora and Rocket went on to explain the origins of Adam warlock and how he obtained the stone and how he was part of the Guardians before they found him. Cole was for his part, looking at Warlock warily.

"Okay, that clears up who he is. But what about this infinity stone? What does it do?" asked Cole as he packed his guns back into the racks and removed his black jacket to reveal grey inner round neck T-shirt.

Gamora decided to start the explanation.

"Infinity stones as they are called are the artifacts that predates the universe. There are 6 of them each representing a facet of the universe. The purple stone is power, the golden orange that Warlock had is the soul, the yellow one is mind, the green one is time, the blue one is space and finally, the red one is reality. They have power to influence the whole universe. One wrong move and the very existence is doomed" Gamora said as she brought up a hologram that showed images of the stones that took shape with the red one turning into gem from a fluid state.

Cole's eyes widened and his face expressed both shock and awe. He never thought such powers even existed in this universe and his military instincts kicked off instantly fearing for the possibility of such power falling into the wrong hands.

"Cole, these gems were once used in unison in the distant past, some million years ago that caused billions and billions of mass extinction events in incalculable number of worlds across the universe" said Drax seriously which stunned Cole.

"Wha-..How do you know that?" asked Cole in confusion.

"Many civilizations that lived in those times-...unfortunately witnessed this and they cataloged them in anyway possible. Cave paintings, time capsules whatever. Since then the gems were separated and scattered" replied Adam.

"Now we have the soul stone...I mean the Warlock's stone. The others? no idea where they are now. Back then we stopped many from getting their hands on it" replied Rocket shrugging and folding his hands. Groot was listening the whole time with no input to give in this conversation.

"Any one knows it's origins?" he asked.

"No, not even me. After all I evolved with the soul stone and yet it conceals the truth about itself. It's like it didn't want to show" he said cryptically.

"Holy shi-...Imagine if it fell into the wrong hands...The consequences would be incomprehensible" Cole said feeling distressed at the thought, but then once again he shook his head to clear up his mind.

"Wait, if these gems are that powerful, then how it's possible that some parasite can affect it. That's what you said" Cole asked the same question that was in the others mind too.

Adam tried to give an answer but he couldn't. Even he didn't know why the gem mis-behaved like the way it did.

"I honestly don't know. But the parasite was dangerous. I think the gem protected my biological form, literally taking the heat in my stead" replied Adam, not sure by himself .

"I-..am-..Groot!" Groot said in a stunning tone which Rocket understood.

"He's right! The parasite managed to infect an infinity stone, imagine what it could have been capable of given enough fuckin time!" Rocket scratched his face with both hands, dumbstruck.

"The fact is it's safe in the vial. We need some time to figure out what can be done to fix it" Gamora said to which others nodded in agreement.

Adam suddenly felt restless and grunted in discomfort. Others helped him to get to a seat where he laid down.

"*SIGH*...Thanks for helping me. I am grateful for this" he said with a warm smile.

"No problem dude. What are friends for" Quill said with a smile. Others went to their business in the upper and lower deck, leaving Cole the only person. He was staring at the endless void through which the Milano was cruising. He was then suddenly flashed with past memories that made him somber a little.

"*SIGH*...I think I'm starting to miss my place. I don't know what the people of my place are doing. The last time I was there, sending the Covenant bastards to hell. There is a chance they could have survived...or-..." Cole had this train of thought which made him to feel despondent. Of course, he spent 5 years here, but doesn't mean he forgot his place. That's his home. UNSC was his home. He stood there for another 2 minutes and went back to his quarters.

...

 **In the other part of the Universe...**  
 **nearby an unknown planet...**

 _Flashes of memories...Echoes..._  
 _ ****BOOM...BAAMMM...SKAZOOOOOMMMM****_  
 _ **I am King Hyperion...Bitch! I'll get the Cosmic seed...**_  
 _ **Farewell your majesty...**_

Thor, son of Odin and Gaea, one of the strongest and mighty beings in the universe was floating in the space. His asgardian physiology helping him survive the brutality of the endless vacuum, even without needing oxygen to breathe. Dim light from a distant star was picked up by his almost dead eyes.

 _ ****SOUNDS OF ALARM...MULTIPLE ALARMS...SOUNDS OF ROBOTIC ARMS MOVEMENT****_

Thor believed he was dead but he still could faintly observe a huge machinery coming near him as he rolled in the zero gravity, his long blonde hair floating like sea waves. Suddenly the machinery lit powerful light on him that triggered tears in his eyes and the next moment, he lost his vision.

** _ **ECHOED VOICES****_

" _Got him, we are bringing him to the surface" said one voice, a female._  
" _Roger that" said another male voice from a communicator._

For the next few minutes, Thor had what appeared to be flashing memories of his father, his mother, brother, friends and even enemies. It moved faster than light in his mind. Again multiple flashed so heavy so real beyond his ability to take it.

 **GRRR-...RRR-...**

"AAAHHH" he yelled and opened his eyes all of sudden and got up frightening some ladies who had weird clothing with different skin pigments, like blue and pink. They immediately left the place as he was awake. Thor's next urge was to blast this place, but on the contrary he was struggling to move his arms and legs fast.

 ****GRUNTING SOUND****

"Damn, why do I feel so weak" Thor asked himself looking around him to get a detailed look at the hall. His face turned confused and wary.

"Where in the nine realms am I?" he muttered as he slowly got to his feet on the floor that was quite warm. he then noticed that he had his pants and belt but burnt severely. He didn't have anything in his torso, just the bare well built body with many visible wounds and scars. he then was reminded of the fight with Hyperion and how he was tossed into the abyss.

He rubbed his face with both of his palms and took a deep breath. He then looked again at the hall he was. It was filled with hologram consoles and walls and floor painted with red and white circuit board paintings. He walked towards a glass window only to be shocked to see that there were flying cars with industrial noises, and lots of portals in the sky.

"None of the nine realms look like this. This must be some different planet" he muttered. Then all of a sudden,

"Enjoying the view?" a voice, a familiar voice came from his back that alarmed Thor's mind and he turned his head to face the man and was stunned. He never thought he would see him again.

"Beautiful, isn't it brother?" asked Loki( _Tom Hiddleston version_ ), the god of mischief and one of the dangerous villains of Midgard or Earth.

"Loki!?...or is this another illusion?" Thor asked shrinking his temples in suspicion. Loki was never trust worthy even in times of crisis. At times Thor had to fight for his life against him. He was also the sole reason for the formation of the Avengers.

"May be or may be not" he replied with a smirk.

"What is this place?" asked Thor looking back at the window.

"This planet is called Sakaar" replied Loki stoically. Thor gave him a confused look.

"Never heard of this planet" he said.

"Of course, no one would know. This world is beyond anyone's reach. Those who ended up here either crash landed here by accident or being tossed out into the abyss for eternity, just like you" the mischief maker said which angered Thor as he glared intently at his brother.

"I don't mean to be rude" he said to calm him down.

"When and how did you get to this wretched place?" Thor questioned. Loki cleared his throat to speak.

"Well, after we faced Hyperion, he threw me out of Asgard and I ended up here an year ago. So tell me brother, how fares our home? Is it destroyed?" Loki asked casually, but Thor gave a stunned look at him.

"Year ago? But I just got here like yesterday" Thor said as he was struggling to understand the relative time difference that had happened.

"Well, Time works different around these parts. Anyway, sorry to hear that you failed to save Asgard. You may very well have to spend the rest of your life in this dunge-..." said Loki as that pissed off Thor.

"THIS-..."Thor swung his arms to catch his brother by his neck, but to his surprise or usual, Loki's body vanished to golden light. Thor gave a mocking chuckle as he walked towards the entranced to see the real Loki.

He then walked slowly towards the entrance and he felt something. He raised his right hand and brought it steadily up front only to hit an invisible force field.

"A force field, Typical" he thought.

"Did you truly think I would come here standing face to face with you for real?" Loki mocked him hysterically. Thor gave him a cold glare.

"THIS WAS ALL YOUR DOING! You tricked our father into fighting Surtur without him realizing that the demon lord had the Twilight- sword of doom. Now that he is dead and put the lives of our people at risk, Hyperion is after the cosmic seed, one that lies in the roots of Yggdrasil. Now wielding the power of the most deadliest of the celestial being Exitar...I dread what he plans to do with that and why does he even need that" he said as Loki smiled as if he didn't give a damn.

"Now you are here hiding and laughing at my face of this misfortune. If you were standing in front of me, I would choke the life out of you and wash this place with your blood. The only reason you are still alive was our mother still believed in you" he said as Loki slightly sombered at the mention of Frigga, the only woman who showered him with equal love even though she knew he was a frost giant by birth.

"But I have enough to worry about. We need to get off this place" he said in hurry already trying to find a way out.

"I don't think you get a say in that, brother-..ha ha" he said with a laugh which irked Thor and all of a sudden, a light hit him which lifted him slightly above the ground.

"Wha-..What is the meaning of this!? Why am I constrained?" asked the angry Thor after realizing he was held tight in a stasis field.

"Well, There's someone so eager to meet you" he said as the entrance force field dropped and the small floating machines that projected the constraint fields moved Thor as they followed Loki.

"Get me out of these ugly machines!" Thor struggled, but failed to escape even with his super strength.

"Ohh brother, stop roaring like a rock troll" Loki chided as they left the place to meet someone who was eagerly waiting in the main hall.

After a few minutes finally Loki and the constrained Thor arrived at the main hall where there was someone sitting in a throne like chair facing the other side while there were different robot like guards tending to him for was also a black clad woman standing besides the chair. Thor didn't like the surroundings he was in. There were aliens in the hall. Some were drinking some kind of wine based drink, Then he noticed what looked like a pair of squid like aliens having a passionate kiss, which Thor found too wierd. And then there was an elderly woman in a golden suit with a big staff in her hand.

"Well, can anyone bring me the squash I asked for? God, I've been yelling for how long?" said the man loud to the robotic soldier in his left.

"AHEM...My dear friend" called out Loki that garnered everyone's attention.

The man in the seat and the golden suited woman turned to look at their guest.

Thor from his view saw a man that had weird hair style and a blue paint in his chin and he was wearing a weird golden robe. Thor instantly recognized the man and was shocked to see that he was trapped in his place.

"GRANDMASTER?" Thor asked stunningly. Of course, he had faced him in the past during his time in the Avengers. Once he had the team facing the evil versions of themselves Thor and Doctor Strange devised a plan to collect a powerful weapon or more like an artifact, an infinity stone, the power stone. Thor channeled the energy from the power stone to attack the Grand master under his nose. He was forced to retreat and that was still fresh in Thor's memory even though that was years ago.

"Ha ha! Here comes the Lord of Thunder. Everyone cheer up!" Grand master said laughing.

"God of thunder you oaf!" Thor angrily pressed his voice and struggled to get out of the constraint field.

"Oh sorry, whatever lord. Besides-..." he said as he got out of the chair and walked towards him and Loki.

"I am glad we meet again. Last time we met, you terribly disappointed me" he said grinning at him adjusting his collar.

"Get me out of this restraint and I will show you how glad I am" Thor said gritting his teeth.

"Hoh hoh! Now, listen to that, he threatening me...that's a threat" Grand master said amusingly, mocking the thunderer.

"Grand master, You said, I shall earn my freedom-..." Loki looking at his brother giving a cunning stare, "-...If I brought you someone strong enough of a challenger to face your champion" Loki finished, giving him an innocent look.

"Hmm hmm hmm...Okay, I guess" Grand master said folding his hands rubbing his chin, as if drowned in his own thought.

"Just wait a damn minute! I am not fighting anyone or more so playing your stupid games again, warmonger!" Thor loudly grunted. Loki completely ignored his battering.

"So, what do you say? Where can you ever get a champion like my brother, one of the strongest being in the universe" he said with a glee. Grandmaster smirked at him.

"You know what? You didn't disappoint me. For the first time in a year, you did something fabulous. So yes, You have earned your freedom after the main event is over tonight" he said as he walked away.

"YES!" Loki yelled in excitement. Thor was totally disgusted that Loki sold him to the Grandmaster in exchange for his own freedom. But what angered Thor even more was that Asgard and the entire cosmos is in danger and Loki was too selfish to protect his own hide, abandoning everything, the very place and the very people who took care of him.

"Loki, Did anyone ever tell you that you are the most nauseating, repulsive being in the universe" Thor said.

"Nothing truly personal, brother. Your capture here will set me off nicely. I shall finally earn my freedom tonight" he said mockingly.

"How can you do this?" asked Thor feeling both sad and angry.

"As hard to admit, Asgard's doomed. Hyperion will succeed and nothing can stop him. I on the other hand have lot of places to hide my skin. You will stay here or get off this world to save our home based on the outcome of the fight tonight" said Loki as he turned away. Thor let a deep sigh as he understood that his brother can't be reasoned anymore. He already felt defeated.

"Take him to the cell" Grandmaster ordered as the robotic soldiers pulled him in the stasis and finally threw him into a room. The door then shut tight.

 ****LOUD GRUNT**-...AAHHH...**

Thor leapt over the door and beat it hard that shook the place.

"Hey..hey...Take it easy man!" Thor suddenly heard a voice from behind as he turned to see who that was.

"Hi, You see a pile of rocks waving at you" a creature said with a smile that looked like glued rock pieces with some sort of gladiator suit. There was another alien that had scissors for hands.

"I am made of rocks, but don't let that intimidate you. My name is Korg and this is Meik" as he introduced himself and got up.

I am kind of the leader here. I am rock hard, but you don't have to be afraid, unless you are made of scissors, heh..Just a rock paper scissor joke for you" he said with a humor as the other alien called Meik was swinging it's scissor arms to showcase it's ability to him.

Thor was standing simply standing curiously looking at the two.

"You are a Kronan, aren't you?" he asked shrinking his eyes.

"That I am" he replied.

"How did you end up here?" he asked curiously.

"Well, let's say I tried to start a revolution to get off this world, but couldn't get any traction. The only attendees were my mum and her boyfriend who I killed coz I hated him. *SIGH*" Korg said as he sighed.

"And that's supposed to be funny?" asked Thor not believing his words. Because Thor knows Kronans are aggressive by nature. This Korg may be talking sweet, but doesn't mean he's one.

"The truth" Thor asked. Korg looked at Thor and sighed in defeat.

"Our people were scouting out a uninhabited planet for resources. It was great. But then we were attacked" Korg said getting serious.

"By who?" asked Thor.

"I don't remember seeing his face, except that his face was too hidden and had glowing red eyes. He killed my brothers and I was the only survivor. When I jumped into a wormhole, that being tampered with my ship that accidentally brought me here, where I was abducted by the Grandmaster" the Kronan finished.

"And the revolution? That's a joke too" asked Thor, shrinking his eyebrows.

No, that's real deal. That was the reason why I was thrown here" Korg said

"And Grandmaster forced me fight the gladiator battles, more like warming up the crowd. But listen to this...I will organize another revolution and this time, we get to blow some shit up! Ha!" he finished with a smile. Thor shrugged in response.

"This place is hideous" Thor said disgustingly looking around him as he see lot of blood on the floor.

"You don't say, Bro" Korg replied.

"So, tell me about this main event champion tonight that the grandmaster talks about" he asked Korg.

"What the hell? Why are you asking? You are not planning to fight him, right?" asked Korg who was stunned to hear what Thor was planning.

"I have no choice, friend. I have to fight him and get off this world" Thor said confidently. Korg was stoic in his response.

"If only I had a unit for every time I heard that!" Korg muttered.

...

 **4th Lagrangian point of Earth...**

Cortana was in the fortress vessel going through the files of everything related to this world to see if she never missed anything. She was in the ship's bridge manipulating the hard light display and consoles. She was serious and that was visible in her facial expression. It's like her matrix was under stress due to immense levels of calculations she was performing every second.

For a moment, she agreed with John about being here. They can't stay here for long time. But what choice do they have. Her attempts to find a way home failed every time.

"I hope John's enjoying down there. Maybe this will prove to be great distraction from the past trauma" she muttered as she took a separate hologram of John's bio-profile and felt happy that it was still stable. It was stable even during his fight with the Skurge, though she's till worried of him.

"Now let me try my luck" she thought as she started deriving a multi-dimensional space-time curvature metrics to simulate a tunneling pathway through realities to see if they can get a picture from this place, so that they can reconstruct the multiverse chart without the need for help from the heroes.

"Meanwhile, I'm wondering how John's doing down there" she whispered to herself with amusement, thinking how she ironically marooned him to an uncharted world.

"*SIGN*...Atleast, this is the best I could do for him. Back in out place, he will never get a chance. But for the time being in this place, especially in a place like Xavier's institute? May be he can get rid of his past trauma, may be it will help him control his mental state" Cortana said as she remembered the horror that he endured for 10 days that severed his psychological state even beyond his spartan II training. That was what scared her. Only she, Halsey, Lasky and his Spartan II brothers and sisters knew of his condition.

The calculations went on for a few moments as Cortana folded her hands and biting her digital nails from the left thumb. Her face slightly grew excited as she believed she would get the answer this time. Then to her dismay, multiple red markers appeared as they projected, "Simulation failed". Cortana sighed and nodded her head disappointingly. This is the 100th time she's running the simulation and all she got was failure. Even she started to hate this. Humanity had discovered 125 alternate dimensions and constructed the multiverse chart.

The underlying concept of the chart is that every dimension is eerily connected through a series of geodesic space-time tunnels whose event distance varies between one another. There are (n-1) combinations of pathways from one dimension to another. If they have a map, then they can skip the calculations and spend time only for travel. But if they don't have a proper map, then shit gets fucked up for real, like running blind in a broad daylight. The Spartan and his AI are in that situation. They don't know where are they and how it is connected to their universe. If they simply replicate the accident and decided to travel, they may end up taking the longest route or end up in a loop as the worst case scenario. So they need help from one of the heroes down there (fantastic four) to cross reference the points and reconstruct the chart.

"Shit!" she said as she quickly pushed away the display, but then suddenly another one appeared before her with a weird message which she noticed and got confused.

"Now, what the hell!?" she cursed under her breath and then instantly, her face turned stoic.

"Oh no! YOU!" she said emotionless staring at the display that revealed a hibernation capsule powering up.

As she touched the capsule's display, it got highlighted and zoomed to display more information, like the status of the capsule and that of whoever's inside.

"Now what do you want?" thought Cortana as she looked to her sides as if ensuring no one was watching her, even though there was no one.

Then a wierd message appeared and displayed along side the capsule's image and it said, "WE NEED TO TALK".

Cortana was looking at it intently and then she shut the hardlight display down and then disintegrated herself from the bridge. She then appeared at the 87th floor, from the bottom of the vessel, in front of the door to the hibernation chamber. As there are no hardlight emitters in the chamber, she had to use the console to open the door. The door hised and hummed to life. Then it opened to reveal a large room with multiple hibernation capsules.

Contrary to the size, there was no one here. But it helped when John spent his time on ground missions to get the wounded and near dead to his ship to put them in this capsule. John had this unparalleled ability to participate in ground mission while coordinating attacks in space at the same time.

But there was one capsule in the far end of the hall, that was powered up and humming with life as if someone was inside. Cortana walked towards the capsule that was powered on.

The partial reflective glass revealed a faint image of someone or something inside. Cortana stared at it for a couple of seconds and then she pressed a few buttons in the console present near the capsule to power it down and allow the flow of entropy and time stream. Then the capsule hissed and the lid opened up.

"Okay, so what do you want me to talk about?" she asked that to someone who was awakened from the capsule as she witnessed a huge being emerge out and Cortana took a few steps back.

"You know what? John's gonna kill me if he found that I was keeping you here all along without his knowledge" she said with a smirk. The being in front of her glared at her intently as it let a mild grunt in response.

 **...**

 **Back at the X-Mansion**  
 **3 hours later...**

** **MULTIPLE LAUGHING SOUNDS****  
 **HA HA HA...HA HA HA..**

John and the other X-men were seated in the big dining table. The X-men were laughing as they talked about a lot about the past events and the present ones. They were having a great feast. John on the other hand was silent as hell with a faint invisible smile in his face. There was lot of healthy foods upon like eggs, salmon, chicken, beef and tuna etc., all rich in protein. John had good fill of those.

John was Spartan II raised solely to fight the wars that ordinary people can never hope to win. It was an idea, an old fashioned notion. Doctor Halsey did achieve what she aimed for. That being said, the present situation John found himself was an unfamiliar territory to him. Halsey knew what she was doing. She wanted her Spartans to be much more, but at the cost of their own humanity, at least a lot for John-117. His zealous duty bound nature never gave him the time needed for social activity.

Despite that, he saw a family in them, just like his Spartan II family. Each caring for one another. He found himself a little peaceful, more like calm in sitting among them.

"THAT was the MOST AWESOME fight John. Never before we saw a fight like that in years. The only one who ever completed the session in short time was Logan" yelled Kitty in excitement as others looked at her smiling.

"And still he beat him by 10 seconds, so that's a new record. Congratulations John!" said Booby. John simply gave a nod of approval.

"I still wonder how you did that, despite not being a mutant" Logan asked as he bit a chicken leg looking at him curiously.

"I used my physique to my advantage. Trained hard and honed my skills and it paid off in the end" replied John, mildly shrugging his shoulder.

"I should say, the way you handled the armed and unarmed opponents, leaping from one target to another and doing all those acrobatic stuffs, we monitored your neurokinetics and they are way off the charts for a normal human. Say that I am astounded" said Beast smiling at him.

"Yeah, it's truly intriguing, a man of your height and size, it would be difficult to control their muscle movements. But you, seriously...Are you sure you are not a mutant!?" Rogue wondered.

It was true, John finished the danger room session to fight 20 men, 10 armed with guns and 10 armed with melee weapons all scattered with in 350 meters radius of a simulated town.. John began with a melee fighter and used him to get to the other armed people, fluidly connecting his movements from one target to another, punching and throwing them like rag-dolls, acrobatic stunts to use one target to distract the others and the fight lasted only for 4 minutes. The other X-men were watching his performance in the session and every single one of them was gasping and had their jaw dropped to the floor in shock. To John, it was just another mission and hardly a difficult one.

Emma for her part, she was the most amazed with John's skills. She found his face calm and collected during the session. She realized that John blocks her telepathy, but not sure if he does it knowingly or he has any natural resistance to it. This increased her interest in knowing more about him as she curiously observed him.

"And then, I also thank you for helping me to fix my new enzyme synthesizer, How did you know the issue was with the power amplifier?" asked Hank McCoy who was equally amazed with John's intellect in technology.

"Just a careful analysis" replied John with a smile.

"And a great one too. Finding a mathematical flaw to that accuracy requires a sophisticated computer and you did it in a couple of minutes. Someday, I hope to utilize your expertise on developing my field equipment" said the scientist Doctor McCoy.

"My pleasure doctor McCoy"

"John, please call me Hank, that is enough" said the Beast to which he nodded.

"Wow, he did that? That's great John. Maybe our institute has hit a jackpot. Logan wondered if you could keep up in taking care of this place in our absence. Looks like you could replace us all, Ha ha" Rogue commented sarcastically looking at Logan who was amused.

"Even we can learn a lot of other things from you, like combat, strategies" replied Ororo.

"John, I don't mean to pry. But, why do you keep your face like that?" asked Emma who observed. John looked at her and shrunk his temples in confusion.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like not feeling comfortable. I mean, if it's true then we can-..." Scott said as he and everyone noticed that, looking at John's expression.

"No-..It's not. I'm truly sorry if it offended you" John said feeling a little embarrassed.

"No John., we were concerned about you. Just wanted to know if you were alright?" Ororo asked.

John took his time to respond. It was never his intention to be like this. But he never did anything like having a dinner in a table. In all of his 60,000 year career, he never once had a chance to spend leisure time with his friends, even with his fellow spartans.

"I'm sorry but, this is all new to me" John replied.

"New? We don't get it" Jean said confused. John sighed and talked.

"Yes. In my lifetime, I never had chance to have a moment like this. Trust me, this is the first time I'm even having a calm dinner like this" said John that earned stunning looks from the others.

"And that's just a joke, a weird humor on your part I guess?" Kitty asked not sure if what he said was truly legit.

"No, it's true. My days in the Navy never gave me a break for leisure time. It was always one mission after another, camping wherever possible, eating whatever we get. Shoot, shoot, keep shooting...Such was life for us. But I found it quite efficient. It gets the job done" he said.

Emma, Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kitty and Kurt shared a glance at one another and turned to look at him. They could see John never expressed sadness when he said that. But, they could witness the tiredness and weariness in his eyes when he said that, a man who had been through a lot pushed to the edge of one's threshold. They, for a moment felt a little despondent for that. But little did they know that his actual struggles he were exponentially greater than his description.

"That worse huh?" asked Bobby awkwardly.

"It could go on for all the day" he replied.

"John, We are sorry for that. We didn't know that your military life could have taken a great toll on you. But, here in this place, no ones different, no ones inferior or superior to another. We are a family. Now that you have decided to work here, you too are part of this family, mutant or not. You are no different than any of us" Jean said to the Spartan, looking at Scott who responded with a smile.

"Yes John, believe that you have a new life in this place, as long as you wish to stay" replied Kitty.

"Sure thing bub. You see, we all got different backgrounds and stories. But got us together and now we are here, united" replied Logan, briefly looking at the salmon he bit.

"You believe in God, John?" asked Kurt. John felt complicated to explain ths part.

"It's really hard to explain. No offense, But I don't give much thought to religion"

"Are you an atheist? asked Kurt in dilemma not understanding his words.

"It's not about faith. I have seen atrocities committed in the name of religion with no moral scruple. People slaughtering themselves just because someone's existence offended their gods. Feeling no remorse for the lives they have taken. If I were religious, I wont know if I would have hesitated to kill our enemies and let them kill the innocents. That , is the reason why I don't give much thought to religion. As long as everything's at peace, it's not that I'm against it" he said. Kurt was surprised with the answer and was left speechless.

"I totally agree with you. You do have a worldly wisdom. But faith had never let anyone down. Even at times of crisis, that gives us hope" replied Kurt to which John didn't react.

John for his part was quite surprised with their hospitality. He wondered how quickly they accepted someone from outside, even a non-mutant. And then he wondered how still the outsiders treated them as outcasts and freaks of nature. He then once again remembered reading about the repeated attacks from the outside world, how they wished mutant race's non-existence. There were times when mutant kids were merciless assaulted and killed.

But then again, they too can't be blamed. There are those who abuses their powers to enact their evil plans like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Apocalypse, Mister Sinister etc., bent on destroying humanity, feeling they are inferior to them. Humans build weapons of mass destruction to defend themselves. John had to agree that trust is a two way thing.

"I thank you for your hospitality. So when do I start?" he asked as they all finished their dinner.

"This friday. We will be out for our mission. So you will take care of the classes" Jean replied to which he nodded in approval. John then got up from his chair.

"Until then, I will tend to my business. Farewell" he said with a warm smile.

"Goodbye John!" Kitty waved with a smile.

"See you big fella!" Bobby said.

"It was pleasure to know you" said Scott. John nodded and drank a glass of water, wiped his hands with a towel and then turned to leave the mansion as it was time. The sun had already set and it was the young night sky.

John took a deep breath outside glancing at the skies and the waning crescent of the moon.

"That went well" he thought as he made his way towards the gate.

He then tapped on to his watch,

"Cortana, Beam me back to the ship" he said.

"In a moment" she replied as a teleportation beam surrounded him and he vanished from that place in a jiffy.

 **...**

 **At the Stark Tower...**

"Wake up JARVIS, time for homework" said Tony(MCU) as he entered his armor room where he kept his armors in the glass storage. That is where he test his new armor functionalities.

"Good Evening Sir, So what would be for today?" The AI asked.

"Time to test the Achilles armor" replied Tony.

"Sir, I would say otherwise. I don't think the armor is ready for testing phase"

"Grow a spine, JARVIS" he said as he worked with a hologram monitor to bring the armor online.

"Sir, the new ARC reactor that you designed with that wierd crystal core? I am reading fluctuating power output whenever I test the repulsor beam to full capacity"

"You mean the power supply breaks out at peak load?" asked Stark.

"On the contrary. Sometimes, it unexpectedly releases a high power density that is difficult to re-distribute to the armor system and vent it out. Instead of the core shutting down, it's adapting to our desired power levels" said the AI as he brought the readings in the screen and Stark was giving a look of amazement. He never thought that some mysterious crystal from an 100,000 year old starship on Iceland would be so advanced to carry arsenal like this.

"Is that even possible? If it's true, then it could generate power forever. The only other object I remember capable of this feat was the Tesseract" said Stark as he began modifying his calculations as he was making slight changes to the armor systems design.

"Alright JARVIS, I've done my re-calculations, make the changes now" he said.

"Yes sir. I believe this would solve the distribution problem" replied the AI as it began the modifications. In a few minutes, it was over.

"Done Sir" JARVIS said as he projected the completion display.

"Right, bring it to me" Stark said. A small circular portion of the floor blinked in blue light as it rotated and started to come up revealing a huge glass case with a floating Traingular shaped object glowing with triangular light in the border. it was only a 7mm thick, more like a housing unit.

Stark took it out and he attached it to his chest.

"Now more of an original me" he muttered.

"Alright, time for rock and roll" he said with a smirk as he tapped twice at the chest housing unit. Suddenly it hummed and compressed to half the size and glowed more than before. Then the nanites started to pour out like liquid metal as it instantly wraped his torso, legs, arms and finally formed his helmet and his visor powered up. The nanotech Achilles armor came to life with the ARC reactor in the chest, as the crystal in the core glowed brightly.

"The nanite bonds, all the different weapon systems, wrist mounted proton repulsors, thrusters are reading good Mr. Stark" said the AI.

"Great, time for roller coaster" said Tony as his helmet HUD came to life providing different readings to him.

Then the platform under him slowly descent down to the lower floor like an elevator. He then reached a large chamber that was dark and then suddenly, one by one, the lights turned on.

"Sir, I have prepped the simulation. You ready?" asked JARVIS.

"I was born ready" he said as holographic opponents appeared from nowhere.

Stark then raised his arms as he fired the repulsors. Then out of nowhere, 5 sentry guns popped up and he dodged the bullets to his left with this thrusters and brought his left arm up and the nanites instantly assembled to form a shield that blocked the bullets. At the same time, he marked the guns and then from his rear shoulder, 5 mini rockets assembled from the nanites that launched at hyper velocity and blew the guns to shreds. Then came a huge model of a bipedal armor made by AIM.

"Time to test the proton cannons" he muttered as he brought up his arms front and it transformed to form a balster and four curved objects materialized from his armor besides him and all hummed to full energy. Then a bright blue energy shot from his fists and then curved objects converged in to one and balsted away the biped. The curved proton blasters assimilated back into his armor.

Then suddenly 20 men with powerful assault rifle came in front and started shooting. He then materialized a length blade from his both arms and started to slash the LMDs to bits and pieces, using his thruster for speed advantage, the LMDs fell one by one cut down. The blade then retracted back.

"Time to test the true power of the crystal core" said Stark's AI.

"One moment please"

Suddenly the whole room shifted to simulated open space and Jarvis brought up a huge meteor.

"What the hell?!" Stark yelled and chuckling at JARVIS's humor.

"Fine"

Stark then charged up his chest core as it grew brighter every second. Stark noticed the HUD display the charging level. At 100%,

"BLAST OFF!" he yelled as he shot the chest beam at full power. The blue energy beam charged at full force towards the meteor. The energy started to drill the meteor and it started to crack, but wasn't enough to blast it to pieces.

"JARVIS, cut the safeties, prep the vents" he said deciding to test the crystal's full power.

"SIR, I DON'T THINK THAT'S-...A GOOD-...IDEA"

"DO IT!" he yelled as his HUD instantly displayed the safeties down and vents online. Suddenly, his entire armor was wraped with a blue aura and some parts of his armor glowed brightly as the energy vented from his armor vents and the remaining energy that Stark can muster up from the crystal as much as possible released with full fury from the chest core. The energy blasted through the meteor and ripped it apart to dust. Stark then shut the chest beam down as his armor returned back to normal state.

The simulation ended and the room returned to normal state.

"So, JARVIS? How was our performance? Did I score a win?" asked Stark amusingly and he retracted his helmet back in.

"Outstanding sir. I am reading the core is still stable and detecting not even faint internal stress. Remarkable!" JARVIS said as he too was astounded by the armor's ability. There are still some features he didn't test, like the energy shields, jackhammers etc. But he always got the time.

"Great, now time for a shawarma" he said grinning and nodding his head. Suddenly the comm went up as he heard a voice.

"Tony, you there? I've been looking for you" came a female voice.

"Well, I am kinda in work, Pepper. By the way, what's this about?" he asked as he walked out of the simulation chamber and the armor nanites disassembled back into the chest housing.

"You know, for your new project, you really need to do some press and paperwork" she said rushing her words.

"You are killing the moment, sweetheart. I told you I'm gonna set a meeting with the Department of Energy, talk about redesigning the grids and power stations to configure the distribution systems...Top to bottom systematic change" he said as he grabbed a orange juice and started drinking to replenish himself.

"That won't be enough, after the expo, major industries are already submitting contracts to get a piece of that technology" Pepper said.

"Listen, my job is only to build and make everything look cool. Other than that, it's your job-.."

"No, Tony, you are not-.."

"Bye!" he abruptly finished and cut the comm as he finished drinking the juice. He then sighed and shook his head toget his mind clear.

"JARVIS, by the way, Any news on our big armored friend?" asked Tony curiously thinking about the newcomer to this superhero gig after a long time.

"The Spartan, sir? Nothing since we last saw him during the Chitauri attack" the AI replied.

"Hmm, that guy packs a wallop. We don't know who he is or why he is here. Hope our next encounter be as smooth as possible like the last time" he said as he had been hearing that both SHIELD and the governments all over the world are trying to keep tabs on him.

"Secretary of State Mr. Ross is already on the move prepping for the worst case scenario" said his AI.

"That's very typical of him. The old man got smacked a lot by the green goliath a long time back that kept him from thinking straight. Okay, keep me posted. I'm on to my paper work" he said with a Jest.

"Yes, until next time. Have a nice day, Sir" his AI responded.

 **...**

 **2 days after...**

John spent the next two days in training without a break, intense workout. John then specifically, studied more about the supervillains of Earth and villainous factions like Hydra, AIM. He even studied something about the 'OMEGA' base, a water mobile secret facility constructed by SHIELD in their early days. John was quite surprised that there are no records of it except their existence. He even discussed about Cortana's attempt to find a way back home.

"So John, I've been meaning to ask you. How was your trip to Xavier's? Are they good to take in a spartan?" Cortana asked with a jest. John was in his civilian attire in his room.

"As much as I hate to admit, it was quite a good trip. Xavier is really doing a great job, the people down there are welcoming of the outsiders" he commended.

"Yeah, but still they are facing resistance and those in the outside world, they are suffereing even worse" she said, mildly despondent.

"What are you talking about?"

"About this, pulled this one out yesterday" Cortana said as she brought up a hologram of a girl and a woman. She folded her hands and her face turned bilious, which John felt confused to look at.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"Latest of the mutant oppressors victims. The woman's name is Olivia Davis, Midtown high school teacher and that's her daughter, April, 12 year old. Yesterday they were found in their apartment" she said as she brought up the later pictures of the crime scene. John was quite shaken by what he saw as he slowly turned away from the image. Both the woman and the kid were murdered and there was a written note in the wall with blood, " _Let evil be casted out to hell_ ".

"They were murdered by these religious fanatics, 'The church of humanity', led by this son of a bitch, Colonel William Stryker. Back in the army, he led a secret covert ops group full of mutants. Then he headlined a project called Weapon X where our lucky Logan a.k.a Wolverine got his bones covered with admantium. After the project was successful, he wanted to kill Logan and prep for the next phase which he overheard despite his semi-coma state and managed to escape the facility killing everyone there. He then left the army and formed the fanatical group to exterminate mutant kind" she explained.

"That led to his hate for mutant kind. But what kind of man would kill a kid to satisfy his vengeance?" John calmly asked.

"Trust me, after this he lost all the rights to live" Cortana finished.

"What's the progress?" he asked feeling sadness for both the woman and the kid. John never tolerated murder with holistic intentions, but murdering a 12 year old kid brought back old memories of the war on Jericho VII, where the brutes, jackals and grunts slaughtered the people and had taste of children flesh. That sight itself sent the stoic John into rage.

"Well, the police has filed in for homicide and the investigation is stale. I don't think they wanted to carry this on" Cortana said, her face frowning.

"Storm was right. The outside world don't care about what happens to mutant kind" replied John.

"Storm!?" Cortana asked giving an anxious and evasive smile at her friend.

"Looks like you already made friends in the institute" she said as she closed all the image and brought up the ship's hardlight displays and consoles.

"Soooo-...how many women-...*ahem*..."she asked flirtily.

"It's not what you think" he argued with her.

"What did I ask? I mean-...You know-...I can't help but curious..ha ha!" she said laughing.

John sighed in irritation, but he got used to her humor, so he said nothing. But then, his face turned serious as if he was reminded of something.

"Speaking of the institute, I wanted to tell you something" he said. She then turned to look at him and her face peered at him.

"Okay"

"Back at the place, Once again, I had this weird hallucination" he said and Cortana's face turned bilious.

"My god, it's come again?" she asked to which he nodded. Cortana rubbed her eyes as she clearly was stressed.

"*HEAVY BREATH*...Ever since that encounter with the-... gravemind on Maethrillian..."She said said as she gritted her teeth in anger.

"You should have stayed away John! Now see how far it has brought you!? Even after you have killed him, he's still messing with your mind after many millennia" she said she started to worry about him. This was the incident that made John to fell depressed or too stressed that raises his adrenaline to unprecedented levels that tamper with his sanity in battle. This was the reason why Cortana wanted John to relax as much as the time he gets apart from his duties.

"Now you see, why I sent you down there? If it were our place, You may never get a chance like this, given your career and stubborn nature. Atleast while here, until we get off this place, you can relax and mingle with the people so that you don't lose yourself" She said looking straight into his eyes.

John for his part, processed everything she said. He understood that and he too know that was the reason why Cortana insisted in going down there despite having a responsibility for his universe. But, even she doesn't realize that John used to have moments of peace between the fights where he spent what little time he had sitting alone.

"So, what do we do?" he asked plainly. Cortana was at loss of ideas. For the first time, she didn't know what to do.

"I don't know. But, just keep yourself calm, stay away from un-necessary fights and-...you know, do your thing...meditation, yoga whatever to keep yourself relaxed" she said. If it were anything else, given humanity's technological might, Cortana could've easily cured. But this was gravemind, a powerful flood hivemind, an unpredictable nightmare. John was not biologically infected by the flood parasite, after all, the entire humanity is immune to flood. But John was attacked on the mind level, something for which Cortana has no cure. It could be a psychological warfare that left him mauled, just like Cortana suffered back at High charity.

"Fine, so how goes our work to get back to our place?" he asked. But this time, Cortana for some reason, stopped her work and simply stared in front moving her eyes left and right as if she was trying to make a decision. Then her face turned determined and mildly nodded to herself. She then turned to look at John.

John was a bit confused by her silence, besides even more after looking her face as she didn't even care about that.

"Cortana?" he once again called out.

"John, there is something I need to tell you" she said with all that seriousness in her voice. John after seeing her reaction, decided to lend his ears on this one. He then waved her to continue.

"While you were busy, I was studying this place and all the recorded events ever since we caught up in that weird accident" she said as she brought up multiple hard light displays. John was now more curious, as he felt he might be getting some answers.

"So, what did you find?" he asked.

"Something, you will find interesting" she said as she brought up several readings.

"First is the accident in question. When we jumped into slipspace enroute to Charum hakkor, our ship got jerked in the middle and all our sensors went offline, so I couldn't get a live event of what happened outside our ship. This happened" she said as she brought up multiple frequency graph, time plots, energy readings of that particular moment. John was keenly looking at the data and then finally deduced what he just saw to his amazement.

"Did we-...Did we drop out of slipspace?" he asked stunned at the result.

"Yes, but not to the normal space as any would suggest, but we were temporarily caught between the dimensional barrier" she said as she brought further images.

"How did we survive that? The barrier would crush everything" John said after analysing the physics.

"Well, looks like it's got something to do with this mysterious figure" she finished leaving Johnto ponder.

"That's not everything. It was during that time, we faced that shadowy figure. But the fascinating thing of it all, was this" she said as she brought up the image of an audio recorder with time-frequency graph that formed ever changing wavy lines at different portions of th sound.

" **SHZ-...SHRRRR-...SHHHHZZZOOOO-...*STATIC*** "

"Did I mishear or was that a voice I heard?" asked John bug eyed at the audio record. He was sure he heard someone talk.

"Yes, after managing to filter all the noises and static interference. This is what it looked like" she said with a grin and turned on the processed audio. It first hummed a loud static, then a couple more before it cleared, then the sound echoed the bridge.

 **"SHRR-...AAYYEEEEAhhh...SSSSEEEEE-...UUUUUU"** the voice said in a heavy bass growling tone which John and Cortana both found unsettling.

"Whose's voice is that?" asked John, his face etched. Internally, John felt the voice was strangely familiar. It had that deep hatred, like after meeting an enemy of your life after a long time. He has faced the flood, a gravemind, even a keymind and a rogue forerunner with grudge against humanity. But this was ona whole new level. John was once again flashed with the memories of the shadowy figure that passed by. This time, he felt a familiarity. It felt like he had seen the shadowy figure's face silhoutte before.

"I don't know. But that voice clearly belonged to someone or something...something very powerful from our wildest dreams. A being of the likes we have never seen or known about. It's mere presence recorded a insanely high levels of energy signature" she said.

"Energy signature?" he asked wondering what that meant.

"Yes. You know that every dimension has a energy constant right?" she asked. John having studied them, instantly nodded and replied.

"Yes, Quantum Cosmological Resonance, a constant, Halsey and Brown's solution to trans-dimensional field equations" he said without a pause.

"Exactly hot shot! The resonance of this universe we are in, the energy constant perfectly matches with the energy signature recorded during the presence of that entity" she said finalizing her statement.

"That's supposed to be a coincidence?" John asked lifting his eyebrow in confusion.

"No, I think, we were dragged here. The Chitauri attack was just a trap laid for us. Whoever that planned this knew what it was doing. It couldn't directly get us off our place. So it used a pawn, the Chitauri through one of the natural dimensional gateways that form when universes align in a particular order. Then, when we jumped through slipspace, this powerful entity found an opportunity to trap us in this universe, for which we have no knowledge about" she finished her explanation.

For the first time, John finally got the big picture. He wasn't some soldier, he's a Spartan-II, humanity's sword and shield, now the military leader in 50 galaxies. He's got he biggest responsibility in his shoulders. He now felt like he just landed into another big larger than life mission, one that decides the fate of not just a galaxy but the entire cosmos. But John felt a lot overwhelmed with that. Since he felt too inferior, a simple soldier compared to the grander universe, not sure if he could pull off a victory on that scale. But he will never stop, that much is assured.

"If that entity brought us here and the Chitauri too are from this place, then this is where our mission lies. We need to find out who did this and why they worked so hard to drag us here, What do they want from us and what are they scheming. So many questions, no answers" said John.

"I'm afraid of the same thing John, Maybe our entire universe could be at stake. But glad you understood the gravity of our situation. Someone's got our full attention and also the other way around. It's time we worked to save the cosmos" she said with a bliss in her voice and John nodded in approval. John mildly smirked at her. Cortana grinned at him and asked a question.

"Reminescing the past, reminded of something familiar, Mister?"

"Can't help. I do miss the old days chasing rings" he said with little humor.

"You don't say"

"So where do we start?" he asked.

"Before that, we need a team" she said. John was confused at that.

"A team? Why do we need a team?" asked John.

"John, this is one of those missions where things can easily get out of hand. Besides, if there's something out there that can cross a universe to bring us here, then we cannot do this alone. So we are gonna recruit some people, maybe the heroes down there" she said.

"What would make you think they will believe us?" John asked.

"By earning their trust. We need them more so than before. As one great spartan, even you can't get this done alone" she argued. John though reluctant, agreed with her point. Besides, she was right about one thing. As a team, John always earned victory against all odds. Just like Mendez taught him, " _You can't win if your team lose. Your team is not an asset, but your own strength"._

"Okay, then we carry on with our work. But if we need a team, we're gonna have to reveal ourselves first" he said.

"I've already made plans fo-..." Before Cortana could answer that, suddenly a display blinked with red warning that distracted both of them.

"What's happenning?" asked John as they both witnessed another mess in the Earth.

A certain red hulk like being with a hemisherical helmet was casuing a collateral damage in the City of Denver, Colorado. The vehicles were smashed like anything and people screaming and running for their lives.

"That ones-.."

"Juggernaut, a dangerous being with mystical powers. Abilities: Hulk like strength, indefinite momentum, powered by a magic crystal called, the "Crimson gem of Cyttorak"... _ **Sheesh, What's with them and all their fancy names!**_. Also he's the half brother of your mutant friend Charles Xavier. Threat level with this guy is extreme. Anyone trying to apprehend him ended up plain dead" answered Cortana nodding in disappointment.

"Where is he now?" asked John as his combat instincts already kicked in.

"In Denver, Colorado. He was actually imprisoned in the SHIELD's Vault prison in the rockies. But somehow, he escaped and also the prison facility went dark. No word from it since his run" Cortana said tensing a bit.

"Cortana, he's dangerous. He could cause critical civilian casualties. I need to go down there to help them" John said in a hurry.

"No point to sit this one out. It's time for you to be hero then. Few of the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic four are already enroute to the smash scene to stop him. High time you joined the party and even who knows, you may get to forge new friendships. I'll stay here should you need my help and keep an eye on everything and also meanwhile, i'll try to get more information on the Chitauri" she said as she smirked at him.

"Roger that" he replied as he got himself ready to be the super soldier again once to protect mankind.

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 _ **"So fades the great harvest of my betrayal. We meet again relentless one!"**_

 _ **-Didact**_

 **...**

 **That's it. I am back after almost a year. Sorry, but really finding time to write the fanfic is getting hard these days. Anyway, hope you like this chapter. If not, I will try to do better next time as this chapter might feel disappointing to some of you and even outright dislike this chapter is more like setting up multiple plot points that will converge in the upcoming chapters.**

 **As for the story itself, a few chapters from now will have John living a civilian life, building relationship and revealing themselves. Then John will assemble a team in their cosmic quest to uncover the truth and reason of their arrival. Also meanwhile John will have to go through a personal journey of confronting his nightmares.**

 **See you in the next chapter**

 **for now, ADIOS AMIGOS!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or Marvel franchise.**

 **Chapter 7: The Rampage**

 **3 weeks before the Triangulum event...**  
 **City of Adenapolis, Charum Hakkor**  
 **Sep 01, 62558 AD...**

Charum Hakkor in the Hakkor system was one of Humanity's capital trinity along side Reach and Earth. This world has a rather bloody history.

Around 160,000BC, this planet was the center of the ancient human civilization. But then, their conflict with the Forerunners brought them to near extinction where they finally made the last stand and still lost after betrayed by their then allies, the San shyuum when they surrendered. Then that planet was turned in a lifeless ball of rock when a halo was test fired on there. But why would a planet become barren with the halo pulse? That's because the planet was artificially built by a primordial race of multiversal godly beings called the 'Precursors'. Charum Hakkor was created with Neural physics and filled with wealth of Neural Physics based artifacts. The planet is more alive in a different sense. As Halo uses phased neutrino pulse that destroys nervous systems, decimated the entire planet's ecosystem. But then the modern humanity found it and terraformed the planet and turned it even more magnificent than their ancient counterpart.

Modern humanity fortified the world with fleet of Juggernaut class supercarriers( _for details, see chapter 1_ ) and Orbital particle beam platforms.

"We are about to exit the slipstream, Commander. ETA 5 minutes" said one of the flight Lieutenant.

"Thank you Lieutenant" John-117 replied as he was seated inside of a Phantom class vessel that was cruising through the alternate dimension. That's when Cortana beeped through his wrist watch. Currently John was wearing an high ranking officer uniform, grey, full sleeved. John tapped the watch and Cortana's avatar popped up.

"So, what would the senate want with the humanity's military leader?" She asked with a jest.

"Can't think of anything but a fight" he replied neutrally.

"Ah! C'mon! You are soldier, not a barbarian. It's only been a week since your last mission in the Andromeda and here's another. UGSC needs to give you a break" she replied nodding her head disappointingly.

John was on a mission to stop a rebel alien faction from using a singularity bomb that could potentially wipe out the entire star system. But John led the fleet and ground forces to finish the hostile forces on the ground as well as the space and stop their evil plan. Then he ordered the UGSC military forces to arrest the survivors to get the information on who sent them. But till then John luckily had nothing to do to a point that he himself felt weird about that. So he took a week off to rest in his house he owns on the planet Heian. Actually, this is the first time John got to spend a week time without work and stress, so he did lot of meditation and target practice.

"We will know soon enough. Besides, I'm always glad when 'nature' calls!" he replied with a mild smirk. Cortana simply shrugged her shoulder, but then she was reminded of something.

"Just wanted to ask about one more thing. How do you feel now?" she asked blatantly to which the spartan shrunk his temples in confusion.

"I mean...you know-...the psychic stability ever since your encounter with-...uhh-...You know who" she stammered to bring up one of the painful memories, but John understood where she was getting at.

"That was generations ago. I am fine" he replied stoically. Cortana was about to argue but was cut by the comm.

"Sir, exiting slipspace in 3...2...1"

 ****ZZZZAAAPPPPPP****

The vessel exited the bluish white space vortex. John watched through the glass window to see the beautiful planet active as a day.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" John thought looking at the horizon of the planet where the star light's about to vanish from the place where his vessel his headed. That's when another comm opened.

" _This is UGSC orbital particle station 'New Aalborg' to UGSC identified vessel 'Into the Light'. State your purpose of entry"_ came a female comm officer's voice.

"This is Lt. James, we have Commander 117 on board, en route to the senate tower" replied the pilot as he also sent an id tag. When it comes to worlds like Earth, Reach or Charum Hakkor, even friendly vessels would be thoroughly scanned for higher level security reasons.

" _You are all clear, Lieutenant_ " replied the comm officer.

"Here we go!" he smiled as he took the vessel into the planet's atmosphere. John watched as the vessel descended into the planet as he watched the evening sky, the star light from the horizon, scattered by the air through Raleigh scattering effect. Down on the ground, there were buildings, malls, restaurants, bars and casinos lit up high like Times Square across the city. Adenapolis was one of the several metropolitan cities that always carry the day effect all the time. Civilian vehicles on the ground and air, it's so lively.

In another 5 minutes, the vessel reached the senate tower as it hovered a couple feet above the landing zone.

"You're good to go Commander" the pilot said as John got up his seat and walked towards the bay door. he door opened wide and a platform extended and touched the floor. John walked the platform and stepped out to feel the warm sunlight and cold breeze. For a moment John felt calm as his mind felt some sort of inner peace.

That's when he saw two officers loaded with Ion-Particle rifle. John walked up front as the two paved way and gave a crisp salute. John returned the gesture.

"Sir, President Hood is waiting for you. And so are the others" One of them spoke. John nodded as he walked towards the entrance door. He then made his way to the main hall. Along the way, everyone who saw him paused their activities for a second in respect. Then he entered the main hall which was filled with officers, Admirals and even flying drones and lots of hardlight displays etc., When John walked, One of the Admirals barked for everyone in the hall to hear.

"COMMANDER IN THE ROOM!" as everyone stopped moving and did a crisp salute. John saluted back and replied,

"At ease" he replied as things returned back to business. That's when he noticed two familiar faces approaching him, Doctor Halsey and Spartan leader Sarah Palmer.

"Great to see you John, though I suspect you wanted to be somewhere else than here!" she said with a jest. John let a mild smirk.

"You don't say, Doctor" he replied.

"John, I was just a doctor to you a really long time ago. But now, I thought with all that time passed, we were on first name basis" she said accusingly though she knew it wasn't gonna change anything.

"Sorry, habits" were his only response.

"Sorry for the rude interruption Commander, I would love to watch you two bicker at each other all day, but-...you know-..." Palmer said raising her eyebrows to which John gave a nod of approval.

"Yup, down to business. Let's get inside. President Hood is waiting for you" said Halsey as the three walked towards the conference room.

"Are the others here?" he asked though he suspected that wouldn't be the case.

"Well, they are not here. Especially, I heard one of them saying, 'John's always a step ahead of us and he always took care of before hand intel'...you know" Halsey shrugged. John knew who it could be, that's Kelly. He sarcastically castigated his team for getting him into these civilian chores, keeping themselves secure.

By that time, they reached the door that was guarded by two marines as they saluted and the door opened wide. The three entered the room only to be greeted by a man still looking in his 40s. Lord Hood, former leader of UNSC Security council, current president of the Inter-galactic Human federation. For many millennia, Hood played key roles in securing friendships with the other alien races in and out of the home galaxy. He's an exceptional leader and many people, including the former covenant races always held him high regards. He also played a key role in having the Spartan IIs lead the human military and John as the Supreme Commander, due to his trust in their abilities.

Also in the room, there were 3 more fleet admirals seated.

"Welcome back Spartan, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Hood said with a smile shaking hands with him, though John noticed weariness in his eyes.

"You sound so tired, Sir. Guess there's a problem that needs to be fixed?" he asked turning a little serious.

"You can say that again. Not a day goes by without chores to tend to" he responded.

"Well well! No chit chat-...no 'long time no see' fuzz-...getting straight to the point, huh?" Halsey asked raising her eyebrows with a smirk.

"I wish to join, but-...we got a situation. And-...*SIGH* this looks like a huge problem to everyone" he said, his voice sounded distressed. John, Halsey and Palmer shared a brief look, Palmer shrugged her shoulders.

John had never seen him so stressed, this was enough for him to get convinced that something was definitely not alright.

"Yesterday, we received this transmission on a forerunner emergency quantum channel" Hood said as he touched the glass top of the table which got highlighted with hologram and then a hardlight display popped up above. But it wasn't some screen but a projection of a monitor, a forerunner monitor that had purple eye glowing. John instantly recognized the monitor.

031-Exuberant Witness, monitor of the forerunner installation Genesis. John first got acquainted with the monitor with his blue team in search for Cortana back in 2559. That was a bitter journey for him as that was the time he learned Cortana was still alive after he thought she had gone forever after their bout with the Didact. Also the other fact being that the installation served as one of the many gateways to the Domain, an ancient Precursor repository of cosmic information that spans a 100 billion years. Ever since, he hadn't come into contact with that monitor.

Hood looked at John to get a note of his facial expression and then played the message. The monitor let it's girly, cheeky yet despaired voice echo the room.

" _This is 031-Exuberant Witness, monitor of the installation Genesis to any and all of my allies, if you are hearing this message, then you need to know that we are running out of time. The UNIVERSE-...is running out of time. 5 hours ago, the domain has been activated by some unknown means, I have lost all controls of this facility, it's in total lockdown. I am seeing thousands of signals being generated in the forerunner battle net, that's was previously only used on our war with the flood. Signs of large scale attack, must be one that activated the repo. I am also seeing orders for massive force deployment not just in this galaxy but on thousands and thousands out there! There will be CHAOS and WAR! Please, stop it before it's too late and save yourselves. I am shutting myself down as per forerunner in-dispensation protocol to prevent unauthorized access or capture by the enemy..I-...I uhh-...good luck!"_

With that, the message ended leaving everyone in the room silent for quite some time.

"What the hell was that? the Domain? asked Halsey feeling bewildered.

"At the same time, the Sanghelli scout ship detected activity in that very zone. Could it be a coincidence?" asked Palmer wondering the same.

"Coincidence or not, doesn't matter. Looks like we all got our hands full again. Some jerk is trying mess things everywhere" Hood was declarative.

John was still processing what this all could mean. He had faced a lot of worst things in the past that would give creeps to anyone's bones. But this time, he felt that this is entirely different from anything he has seen previously. He felt something sinistrical about this new so called threat. His spartan instincts kicked in response that reminded him of his sworn duty, to protect humanity and innocent lives. But once again, back to what Palmer mentioned.

"Sanghelli?" he asked shrinking his eyebrows.

"Yes, one of their scout vessel detected strange slipspace energy signatures around the Genesis system. Word is, that they were obliterated before they could escape. Also they made their last transmission-.." she said as she brought another hardlight display of a comm beacon.

"-...Something that referred to forerunner vessels" Palmer finished.

"There's a possibility that the forerunner vessels might be controlled by someone from the domain. After all, it can activate any technology, forerunner and Precursor alike. We've seen it's function before" Halsey added.

"Whatever it is, this needs to be stopped. If what the monitor says is true, anyone who gained the access to domain threatens every aspect of existence" John said in all seriousness which made everyone to look at him with concern. Of course, when he gets serious, then shit's getting real for real. Halsey who was standing near by him slowly held his arm in comforting way.

"John, we will. After all, we had been a lot and look at where we are. But this is the domain we are talking about. Last time we tried to mess with it, a whole galaxy was at war" she said pressing her tone regarding the gravity of the situation. In fact, she was referring to one of the splintered rampant personality of Cortana that used the domain to deploy forerunner guardians to subdue the galaxy. But that was a long time ago, back in 2559. But that war was also the culmination of one of the important milestones in humanity's history, that was the same time when they discovered path kethona( _Large Magellanic Cloud_ ) and utilized the resources to create their own counter offensive technologies to combat the forerunner weapons.

John was silent for a couple of seconds to process her statements. He knew deep down she was right.

"But that was many millennia ago. Why now after a long long time?" Hood asked frustratingly.

John was still trying to figure out the missing pieces to complete the puzzle. He firmly believed in one possibility, it wasn't someone new, but some old enemy, how? Because, not many knew about the domain. It's been a well kept secret, only a handful knew about that, which also includes some of humanity's ancient foes.

"It's not someone new, but someone old and familiar" said John that garnered everyone's attention.

"Care to explain, soldier?" asked Hood.

"Sir, the domain is a powerful information repository. It's influence spans the whole universe. That's how the precursors constructed it. No sentient being has the right mind to interface with out killing themselves. Last time, when I entered it to try and save Cortana, were it not for the monitor's intervention, it would have killed me in mere seconds. I was just lucky" he explained. This helped the others to narrow down the search.

"So that means, it's been accessed by someone powerful...or precisely someone with a powerful mind that can hold themselves against huge in and outflow of rogue neuroelectric data waves" Halsey concluded.

"Though at this point I suspect if there's someone out there that fits the description"

"The universe is a huge place, Palmer. We have explored only a proverbial speck of dust" John said to which Palmer nodded in agreement.

"Now how do we stop it?" Hood hit the nail in everyone's head with the final question. John was calculating the next steps.

"We need to go to the Genesis system and need to scan every interstellar space. Call on every battle group to scan for any slipspace transit carrying unidentified vessels. If the vessels are forerunner, they can cross only 5000 light years in a day. It's been 5 hours since this transmission. So we should be good to get a lock on them easily. Also the fortress fleet in the inter-galactic void needs to be alerted of this situation. Full permission to engage any and all hostiles" John gave his orders.

"I will relay those orders on your behalf, Commander" Palmer said as she was about to leave the room and all of a sudden,

 ****BAAAMM...BAAAMM...BAAAMM**** the alarms went off.

Suddenly, John's watch beeped and Cortana appeared above.

"What is it Cortana?"

"John, I need you immediately! I am bringing labyrinth right now. We have detected anomalies in 18 galaxies and a few more outside our sphere of influence" she said rushing in tense.

"Holy crap! Has it already begun?" Halsey asked loud understanding that it had already begun.

"Cortana, we suspect that those could be forerunner vessels activated through the domain. Keep me posted of the situation" Hood said.

"Aye aye Mr. President" Cortana acknowledged his orders.

"I am gonna take care of the duties that needs to be done right now. I am gonna call the Arbiter. Most of the forerunner space are in the Sanghelli's control" Hood said as he left the hall.

"And I will ready the Spartan teams ready!" Palmer said as she too left the room. When the door opened, they could already hear multiple, distressing voices as the marines were pulling security.

"Roger that, Doctor, get to safety. I will meet you later" John said as he wanted to keep his mother figure out of harm's way.

"John, I am heading to Zeta fleet that's about to leave for the Genesis system" she said that stunned John.

"What? No, it's too dangerous!" he warned not wanting her to get to any harm.

"I am always curious than cautious and before you could talk me out of this, don't waste to your time" she sounded deterministic and John soon understood that she's too stubborn to listen to him, feeling her curiosity is getting the best of her, so he left to her decisions.

"Alright, but be careful" he said, still concerned, though at this juncture, he didn't have enough time to argue.

"Roger that Spartan, knew you would see it my way" she said with a smirk as they both left the hall.

"Alright, bring the ship here. I'll get ready. Where's our first destination?" he asked the AI.

"Right now, the sensors are already picking up activity in the the void near the M33 Triangulum. Must be the Atlantis sensors. We need to head there first" she replied, but as preparing for the bout, her face turned bleak all of sudden.

"What's wrong?"

"Can't believe this is happening. Do you truly think it's the domain. **SIGH** God I wished I never had to think of that place again" she said rubbing her arms like feeling cold. She had bad memories of that place and lot less to be desired. John knew exactly what she was referring and he himself was not pleased of those memories.

"Don't worry, we got this" that was all he could say, but enough for her to muster hope.

"Fine. Ghosts of the past, never leave us. See you inside" she said and vanished from his wrist projector.

There was only one thought in the spartan II's mind.

"Looks like the time for talk is over already!"

...

...

 **Present Day...**  
 **Avengers Tower, New York city...**

"Cap, what do we got on sensors?" asked Tony as he entered the common room in the top most floor after Jarvis, his AI assistant warned him of an emergency situation.

"We got a problem" Rogers replied as he waved Tony to look into the screen that was reporting a news of a prison break. Tony after watching hte news feed had his face turned bilious. There were live feeds of screaming people, flying and crushed automobiles as a huge hulk like being in a red armor with hemispherical helmet, stomped the ground. There were military personnel that were firing at the being in vain. To the heroes horror, he trampled over the soldiers to their gory deaths.

"What the hell? Was it a few hours ago?"

"Yes Tony, Not really sure how did this happen"

All of a sudden, Nick fury's image popped up.

"Director Fury!" Tony acknowledged.

"Stark, Cap, Juggernaut has broken out of the vault prison by unknown mean. We are working on how the hell that happened. But meanwhile, we have to stop his rampage. Unlike previous times, we are reading unusual amount of energy from him. Something's not right" Fury said, sounding more distressed.

"We are on it Fury. I will have the Avengers get there and stop Cain Marko" replied Rogers.

"Thanks Captain. Spider-man and his team are on a different task, so sorry, you won't be getting assistance from my end. A few minutes ago, I also spoke with Xavier, a few of the X-men are also coming to assist you" he said.

"That's fine. We will head there and keep you posted. But before that, I wanted to ask you something. With this threat looming around, do you think our newcomer would show himself again?" asked Steve that made Fury rub his chin to ponder his question.

"I don't know cap, but something tells me we can expect his arrival. Either way, put an end to this menace before he turns Denver in to a graveyard" Fury said as he cut the comm. Rogers nodded in acknowledgement.

Then he turned to face Tony and sighed and he walked away to get himself dressed.

"How the hell did that red bastard got of his chains. My satellites should have gathered the data that I can check" he said as he contacted the other Avengers in the comm.

"Nat, gather the others. We are heading to Denver" Stark said.

"Planning for a vacation to the rockies?" Natasha asked Sarcastically to which he chuckled.

"Something of that sort. We need to stop a guy with big helmet" he said as he smirked and tapped his triangular chest piece. It then moved a couple millimeters in as the nanites started to flow around his body faster, finally wraping him up with the new badass Achilles armor. Stark raised his arm in front of his face and folded his fingers to get a feel for the new suit,

"Yeah baby!" he thought with amusement.

By the time, Rogers readied himself with the Captain America suit and the shield.

"I will get everyone on the quin-jet" Rogers said to which Stark nodded and they both headed to the exit launch pad.

 **Meanwhile in Denver...**

 ****MULTIPLE PEOPLE SCREAMS****

 ****MULTIPLE VEHICLE CRASHES****

 ****BASH...BOOOMMM****

The city of Denver was in utter chaos when the unstoppable Juggernaut broke free from the vault prison and rampaged through the civilian zone.

"THAT'S IT PANSIES! RUN AND BOW BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE JUGGERNAUT! I AM GONNA ENJOY ROLLING, TURN YOU ALL INTO BLOODY PULP!

The Juggernaut yelled as another taxi accidentally crash stopped near him as the driver was screaming in terror.

"AAAAHH!"

Cain Marko stomped the car's hood as it flipped up and towards his head. He then caught it with his one hand and threw it at a gas station that blew up the entire gas station. Unfortunately some poor souls died in the explosion. At least the cab driver got out before he could suffer the same fate.

"HA HA HAAA!" he let a maniacal laugh as he proceeded to walk.

"All units, prepare to engage hostile" one of the SWAT sergeant whose unit was sent from the vault prison security to restrain him. Also there were national security guard in the area assisting the SWAT unit.

**MULTIPLE GUN SHOTS**

**MULTIPLE EXPLOSIONS**

The bullets and grenades went flying towards the red being, but to no avail. His hard skin felt nothing but touch of fine sand grains.

"ASSHOLES! DON'T YOU GET IT? I AM UNSTOPPABLE!" he roared as he picked up pace and jumped high and fell to the ground like a meteor strike that leveled the entire zone as all the officers ran for their lives though not everyone where lucky to escape his wrath as some soldiers got trampled under the rocks.

He then walked and turned around to find battle tanks aiming at him.

"YOU NEVER LEARN...FINE!" he yelled as he started running towards the tanks. The tanks shot heavy energy explosive rounds.

**KABOOOMMM**

Unfortunately, the force field before him scattered the energy before it could even touch his skin. He picked up the pace and got near the tanks and grab hold of the cannon barrel, lifted the tank and ripped the whole tank in half. Then he lifted the other tank and threw it at high speed towards the civilian alley.

"Daddy! Where are you! DAAAAD" a kid, a boy was screaming for his father who he lost sight of in this mess. The poor kid was already having bloody scars in his face.

"SON!" suddenly he heard the kid heard his father yelling at a distance. The kid smiled in glory as he ran towards his father. But as he reached the man, his father was stunned to see a tank flying towards them.

"NOOOOO!' he yelled as he too tried to get his son as quick as possible. But when they both embrace each other,

**BOOOM**

the tank was suddenly stopped mid air as the son and the father felt a shadow and silence. Both slowly lifted their head upwards to find a certain huge green avenger standing in front of them holding the tank. They both smiled in joy to which the green avenger smirked in response.

"WHOA ! That was AWESOME!" the kid yelled in joy.

"Thanks for the help!" the father said in gratitude.

"No problem Sir. But now, you both need to get off this place to somewhere safe" came another voice, which was Captain America. And soon the other Avengers entered the scene, Hawk eye, Black widow, Ant-man, Iron-man, Scarlett witch.

He nodded as he left the place. Hulk then threw the tank back to Juggernaut's position that got his attention.

"HEY BIG UGLY RED! COME AND PLAY WITH HULK!" hulk yelled for the Juggernaut to hear and once could say he was clearly pissed off.

"AVENGERS! I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL!" he roared as he started pacing towards the Avengers.

"Hulk, try to get him out of the city. Even better, we can handle him in the Rockies with out worrying about casualties" Rogers said. Hulk nodded and leapt towards the unstoppable red being.

"Hang on, lemme butter things for ya!" Stark said as he too flew towards Juggernaut to help Hulk.

"Hawkeye, Wanda, Widow, help everyone in the town to get to safety. There could be a lot of emergencies, tend to them. Things are gonna be real messy. You help them while we distract Juggernaut out of the town" Steve ordered as they all acknowledged.

"On it Cap, make sure to join asap. Can't let you guys have all the fun" replied Widow with a smirk as she winked her eye. Then she and the other two scattered to help the civilians.

"Hulk, get him out of the town. We will follow you" Rogers said as he got back to the quin-jet to follow Hulk. Hulk nodded as he to paced towards the red monster.

Meanwhile...

"READY TO DIE BANNER!" Juggernaut was getting close.

"PUNY BANNER! I AM HULK AND I WILL SMASH YOU!" Hulk roared as he leapt with great force and pounded the ground at blinding speed that caused a tremor. The ground broke and Juggernaut slipped and fell down with his momentum carrying him a long way past him.

"Hang an Jolly green!" Stark said as he shot his repulsor cannons from his palms and from the back that knocked the helmet being to the ground with great force.

But he quickly got up, but this time he waited a few moments.

"RRRAAHHHH!"

Hulk started sprinting towards Cain only for him to pick up a sudden momentum in close quarters and hit the green behemoth with his helmet.

"But Stark came in between to stop the Juggernaut with the nanite assembled hammer that used ion beam propulsion to land a hard punch. But, Juggernaut's momentum was too much that the hammer force reverted back to Stark's arm and he went flying and crashing into the already burning gas station.

"AAHHH! Damn it! Even the Achilles couldn't hold him physically" But thanks to the superiority, the armor was just fine.

**BOOOOM**  
The force of a rushing mountain then hit hulk's abdomen and sent him flying crashing through vehicles and buildings. Hulk was flat on the floor for 5 seconds and then he got up shaking his head to recover from the impact blur. Then he got up and gritted his teeth in anger.

"ALL THIS TIME HULK, YOU STILL DON'T GET IT! YOU CAN NEVER PICK A FIGHT WITH ME AND WIN! he yelled and once again sprinted towards the Hulk. Hulk had a plan this time,

He too started running towards him. But when they both only were a few meters apart, Hulk used his right leg to stomp the ground that lifted the road towards Juggernaut and he didn't anticipate this as the road underneath him lifted above and threw him in the air. Hulk instantly leapt towards him by force, bashing through his body, carried him on his shoulder as he flew towards the Rockies out of the town.

**AIR WHISTLES...AIR SCREAM...BAAAAMMMM!"

Hulk and Juggernaut crash landed on a huge boulder that shattered on impact. Both Juggernaut and Hulk grunted as they got to their feet from that pounding.

Hulk then swung his right arm to his face. Juggernaut blocked it with his left arm and did a right cross which he ducked under and gave a earth shattering uppercut to his face. Juggernaut was fazed for a moment.

**THOOOOMMM**

"ALRIGHT! I AM PISSED OFF!" he cursed as he suddenly held tight his fists as the crimson energy started to glow around him as he started to beef up a little and his eyes were glowing red and he got madder.

"RRRAAAHHHHH" he roared and was about to stomp through Hulk but then

**BOOOM**

A missile came hitting the Juggernaut on the back. Hulk looked up to find it was from the Quin-jet, As Natasha fired a SHIELD prototype RPG that was loaded with powerful EMP burst that temporarily shunted Cyttorak gem's energy for a couple of seconds. Then from quin-jet, Wanda, Hawkeye and Captain America jumped out. Meanwhile Juggernaut was back on his feet with rage as he leapt above and stomped the ground which created a tremor that made everyone dodge away. He was about to beat nearby Natasha, but as his fist reached the ground, she raised her legs upward and used his arm to thrust away from him as she fired a couple of electric stun discs but to no avail as the force field blocked it.

"Hey Jackass! Eat this!" Hawkeye yelled as he fired a Air burst tipped arrows which again were blocked by the force field.

"EAT THIS!" Juggernaut yelled and raced towards him.

"Oh SHIT! I am so screwed!" Hawkeye blabbered but Widow pulled him out of his way as Captain America threw the shield hard on the ground to make it bounce and hit Juggernaut's knee. Unfortunately the red being assumed he missed the aim so the force field was left open in his leg side which made the shield to hit his knee and make him slip.

"Nat, Clint! You guys okay?" asked Rogers concerned for his friends.

"Yeah, good. But how are we gonna stop him? he's worse than that mule headed Skurge!" Natasha said as she let a deep breath.

"Yeah, what's with everyone trying to break cities? C'mon, these assholes are way above my pay grade" Clint yelled in anger. of course, he is a man of many talents but not strong enough to face someone like Juggernaut. Soon the three saw up in the sky what appeared to be the X-jet.

"Looks like Charles was kind enough to send reinforcements to stop his dumb ass brother" said Rogers which made the two to chuckle.

Meanwhile Wanda and Hulk engaged the Juggernaut.

"Feel the power of the Chaos!" Wanda said her eyes glowed crimson red as she sent a red energy blast his way.

"BRING IT ON!" he said as the energy disintegrated by the force field, much to her dismay.

Hulk stomped the ground with his right leg to make huge piece of rock to fly to his arm and he threw it at great speed. It hit hard enough that even though it was shattered by the force field, it sent him a couple meters back. As he cleared the dust, Wanda once again used an even more bigger energy blast that only knocked him once again a few meters back.

"Damn! What would it take to beat this asshole!?"cursed Wanda and then suddenly a huge flash of light crossed her at luminal speed and dashed at the red beast. And then the light took a curve upwards and landed nearby Hulk and Wanda and exposed itself. It was Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel.

"Anyone requested for cavalry? You got it!" she said with a smile as everyone looked above to find the rest of the superheroes exiting the X-Jet.

"Good to see you Carol. Always welcome to extra hands" Rogers greeted.

From the jet, Gambit, Jean grey and Bobby of the X-men. Along with Ben Grimm, Susan Storm of the Fantastic four for additional assistance.

All the heroes assembled together and looked at the Juggernaut.

"Whoa! looks like Xavier's brother's all juiced up" Gambit commented.

"You don't say. People should call him the Jugger-nut. By the way, glad to see you all, guys!" Replied Bobby, greeting the other heroes.

"Alright enough. We need to stop him before he gets strong and wrecks havoc" Jean cuts the banter as everyone looked at the Juggernaut. That was when Tony Stark in his brand new armor appeared in front of them landing with a thump.

"She's right. There's something different with him. The energy field is so amplified than we knew before" Susan said as she used her cosmic powers to sense the power of Juggernaut.

"Hooh! There you are . Coming after we took a beating" Black widow Chided.

"Sorry folks. But I have been busy with some investigation" Stark replied as Ant man too popped up from being small.

"Yeah? Of what kind?" asked Ben Grimm and before he could answer, they saw Juggernaut roaring at him as he was about to go roller coaster on them.

Iron man instantly summoned his proton cannons as the nanites in his fists assembled to form a gun and 4 other floating energy projectors from his back appeared before him as they all fired a unified beam...

**ZOOOOOMMMM**

The beam was shot straight towards the Juggernaut and was powerful enough to knock him down with blunt force. Then the projectors went back to Tony's armor.

"Everyone, get ready! Susan's right about him. The Cyttorak gem is feeding off energy in unusual amount. Also he's getting stronger every once in a few minutes" Hank Pym explained.

"LIKE HULK!" Hulk said understanding his point clenching his fists.

"YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS!" he yells as he clenches his fists tight as the crimson energy covered his arms. Then he did a powerful thunder-clap that sent the red energy shock waves that knocked the heroes on the ground as the others who can fly started to charge towards him. Those who have strength held themselves and additionally augmented by Susan's force field.

"Bobby!" called out Gambit and signaled him to attack from left. The Iceman created a huge boulder of Ice and threw it at him. Juggernaut punched and shattered the ice. But by then, Gambit was spinning his Bo staff at high speed to charge it up. Then he jumped nearby him and hit the end of the staff in the ground which leveled the place where he was standing causing the Juggernaut to lose his balance and fall down.

"Let me take care of the rest" said Jean as she used her telekinesis to lift Cain and throw him to a nearby huge rock that shattered on impact. But Juggernaut's recovery from every beating began to increase visibly as he responded by pacing towards them, this time with a lot of momentum that could tear through mountain like paper.

"Susan, Jean, Bobby! Create a barrier! others get ready to restrain him" Captain America ordered. Jean created a telekinetic shielding along with Susan's force field and Bobby created a hard ice wall.

"Tony, let's try to stop him from our end using energy blasts. Hulk and Ben can fight him if it gets outta hand" Carol suggested.

"Good idea. Let's go!" Stark replied as he, Danvers and Wanda got to the front line and shot a powerful energy blast of their own all converging on to the pacing Juggernaut.

"RRRRHHH" Juggernaut felt the combined energy slowing him down a bit and felt a great stress and grunted in response.

"Looks like this is working !" Wanda said as she focused more of chaos energy from her arms.

"Alright let's pour in more!" Stark said as the three increased their energy output. But Something weird started to happen. Juggernaut's force field started to absorb the energy and feed unto him increasing his strength. Because of this he began to pick up the pace steadily and reached a great speed with brute strength.

"Oh Shit! This isn't working!" Move out!" Carol yelled as they inevitably knew they cant stop him and moved out of his way. Juggernaut's size was a little bit bigger than before and was glowing in crimson energy as he finally reached the barrier and hit it with full strength. The force from his momentum and the extra energy he was letting out together shattered the barrier that Jean, Susan and Bobby made.

"AAHHH"

The three yelled in great pain as it took a heavy toll on their mental agility and suffered excruciating pain. They all were knocked back a few meters.

"JEAN!" yelled Bobby who was worried for her fellow X-Men as he went to check on her.

"SUSAN!" Ben went to check on his friend. She was breathing tough as she spoke with pain.

"Ughh...That was painful. The force could have created an earthquake!" Susan responded as Ben helped to get to her feet slowly.

"Juggernaut is getting stronger by the minute. That force cold send even the most powerful psychic to coma" Jean said as she got back to her feet.

As for the Juggernaut, his motion was not even stopped a bit as he continued to pace forward.

Black widow slid under his legs and threw stun grenades that didn't do anything. Hawkeye shot an arrow that turned into a rope and tied up around Cain's legs, but he moving with great peed and force now that the rope was cut easily.

"*SIGH*...Not sure how are we gonna handle this" Hawkeye started to worry.

"Alright nut crack. It's CLOBBERIN TIME!" Ben angered as he and Hulk ran to stop him. As the three bashed against each other. Juggernaut was stopped for a moment of time as Hulk and the Thing were holding him, but Cain's strength was too much as he was pushing them both as their feet started to dig through the ground in pressure. Then, all of a sudden, Juggernaut's strength increased 10 fold and pushed them both at great speed and bashed through the rock mountain with great force that knocked them down.

The others were stunned at the sight.

Captain Marvel raced to their position and shot a beam of photon energy and it didn't do a thing.

"C'MON NOW AND WATCH ME BLAST YOU!" said Juggernaut as he clapped his hands again letting a crimson energy shock wave that sent her flying back.

Iron Man and Captain America charged at him. As Juggernaut swung his right arm, he slid under his legs as Tony shot a continuous beam of repulsor that hit the Shield and reflected towards Cain's back and stunned him for a moment.

"Jarvis, Is there a soft spot?"

"Sir, The gem is feeding of energy in unusual amount. At a certain point in time, The energy would cause a massive electro chemical change in the Earth's Atmosphere. I don't think if we can stop him even if we have every available superheroes on this planet"

Meanwhile Captain America, Widow, Hawkeye and Hank Pym were fighting him.

Juggernaut tried a left hook which Natasha dodged by leaping upside down over his head as she fired two electric stun mines on to his helmet that shocked his head.

"RRRAA" he grunted, with Hawkeye firing three thermite tipped arrows in his head that created a huge explosion. As the smoke cleared, he was distracted and Rogers jumped high and hit the Juggernaut on his back of his head with full force, he was once again stunned but then swung his right arm back wards that hit Roger's shield and sent him flying back. Scarlet witch and Captain Marvel were firing energy blasts which he blocked with his both hands. Meanwhile Jean used her powers to lift a huge rock and throw it at him. She even was tempted to use the Phoenix force, but feared the devastation it would cause with no difference than what the red brute made. With everything pissing him off, his rage increased as the energy started to leak out of him and he roared with anger.

"RRRRRR-...DIEEEE!" as he extended his arm, the crimson energy in the gem blasted everyone back in a mile radius. Stark used his energy shield bubble to protect him and so did the others in their own means.

But then suddenly Ant-man grew up large to 30 feet and

"SHUT IT!" he yelled as he kicked Juggernaut which made him crash through a huge cliff .

"YOU DARE!" he yelled as he started running like hell towards him. Ant-man tried to use his hands to block him, but he was unusually fast for his size and to dodge. But the unexpected came when he suddenly leapt high and hit Ant-man in the knee with blunt force and Ant-man yelled in pain and fell down with a huge thump.

"AAAHHH...SHIT! The bastard broke my leg!" He cried in pain as he got to normal size.

"HANK!" the others yelled as they got to his position to help him.

"Hank buddy? stay with me! We will get you to safety" Gambit said as he lifted him up.

After getting him to safety, all the heroes assembled and looked at Juggernaut who was even more bigger then before and was getting mad with power.

"How are we gonna stop him man? We should have brought everyone!" Ice man said looking at the bleak situation.

"And we would still lose. Every time he's gaining power from our fight. Not sure, if there's even a way to defeat him right now" said Susan which further discouraged them.

"WHAT? TIRED ALREADY! PANSY! I AM STARTING TO ENJOY THIS!" Juggernaut yelled as he picked up the pace to do a stampede on the heroes as they began to prepare for a final stand.

"RRRAAHHH" he roared as he drew himself closer and that's when

**BOOOOM**

A powerful missile hit the red menace and exploded with the power of a nuclear bomb, just in a short range. Everyone watched a short lived flare that made them cover their eyes for a few seconds.

"What the hell?" cursed Steve Rogers at the sight.

"Holy Shit! Who was that?" asked Romanoff holding her arm. Then suddenly they heard a cruising alien jet.

"Up there! look!" Jean said as they all saw a alien fighter jet passing by with suddenly a huge dark silver armored being, towering over everyone landing in front of them to their astonishment.

"It's him!" Stark said for everyone to hear as they looked at him and then turn to face the being in awe.

"I remember him! It's the Spartan!" Said Ben Grimm. Of course, some had seen him face to face during the Chitauri attack, some only saw him on footage, so they knew either way. Some who were seeing him up straight for the first time were wary about him as he had proved himself too powerful in Newyork. Others still had trust issues as he was an enigma.

Some of the heroes walked to him.

"Good to see you Spartan...I guess!" Hawkeye said as he knocked the dust out of his torso.

"Well, not a great timing though. You are late. He's become unstoppable. Well, that's actually his specialty, but uhh...he's become super unstoppable now, if you catch my meaning" Iceman said sighing at the situation. The Spartan walked a couple of steps front and broke the silence.

"I know. That's why we need to finish this soon. The gem's power is being amplified by a power amplifier placed in his body" he replied which stunned everyone, but made sense. After a long and tough fight, Juggernaut was only getting madder and stronger much to their frustration and confusion.

"I think that makes sense. Every moment he was getting more powerful. Besides, I guess you got an idea on how to stop him." Susan added to their thoughts.

"It won't end with just stopping him. The energy output could have catastrophic effects on global ecosystem" John said as everyone saw the Juggernaut who recovered from the missile attack as she was violently shaking his body in response to high out flow of crimson energy.

"Wow! That's what my AI said too" Stark said wondering about the Spartan's analysis as same as Jarvis.

"Guns can't hurt him. But if I instantly drain his momentum, the force field will temporarily be shunted off" John said analyzing the enemy.

"And an opening for every one to kick his crimson ass. Great plan. But the momentum at-..."

"Wait, what did you say? Drain his momentum? You do realize that's only possible with absorbing the impact and nullify, which is not even theoretically possible!" Stark warned him not liking what Spartan meant.

"YOU DARE HIT THE JUGGERNAUT, ARMORED BITCH! I WILL RIP YOUR ASS OFF!" Juggernaut yelled as he threw a huge rock towards him. Iron man instantly responded by using his repulsor beams to shatter the rock.

John summoned his gravity hammer from slipspace container into his right palm which amazed the heroes.

"Wait, did he summon the weapon out of nowhere?" Wanda amazed with her eyes wide open.

The scientific minds in the team Stark and Hank wondered how that even worked as they had seen this during the invasion.

John instantly took a sprint which stunned those who are seeing him live for the first time. The X-Men members were simply mind boggled by his move.

"How the hell is he moving that fast with that kinda armor on him?" asked Gambit in his cajun accent looking at the racing Spartan.

"Even then, I'm not sure how he thinks he can beat the Juggernaut. We need to help him in what ever way we can!" said Carol Danvers to which everyone agreed.

But what they saw next was something from their wildest dreams.

John is a Spartan II, but he never underestimates his enemies. But at the same time, he never charges down without learning about them. He already did his homework about the Juggernaut.

Juggernaut was charging at the Spartan. John charged the hammer to full energy. As they closed each other, John ducked and slid under his right arm and shot a powerful energy stream to his back that shook him out of balance.

"AAHHH!" he grunted loud in irritation.

Then he turned back, once again to run over him. But John turned the hammer with the head facing the ground and hit the ground hard. The energy from the hammer created a tremor that broke the ground and made the Juggernaut to fall under the broken debris.

Captain America and Black widow were astounded with the progression of this fight. There were many heroes here and still they couldn't slow him down. But this Spartan was handling like it was nothing. It was like the tide of this fight was toppled all of a sudden.

"Can't believe he's holding his own against Cain Marko! How does he do that?" Natasha wondered.

"One thing I can say is that he's not new to these kinds of threat. He must be doing this for a long time" Rogers replied who was analyzing the fight.

Juggernaut once again broke the ground and let a huge roar that created a energy burst which violently pushed the Spartan back, as his armor boots dug the earth as he was pushed. John grunted in response to the effect of brute force. He has never felt this much energy emanating from someone.

"Time to end this" he thought as he mentally commanded the armor to activate infinite density which tightened the metaphysical bond between his mind and the Armageddon suit.

"FEEL THE WRATH OF THE JUGGERNAUT!" he roared as he began pacing at full speed towards the Spartan.

"Oh Shit! Why the hell he isn't moving?-...Hey Spartan! Unless you got death wish, get the hell out of his way!" Captain Marvel yelled in anxiety.

"He's planning to take it, but he won't survive. I will summon a force field!" Susan worried about about the worst case scenario.

"No Wait! I have seen this! I think I now know what he's planning to do" Rogers said, having previously seen a similar situation like this back in Newyork.

But when Juggernaut closed the distance and hit the Spartan square in his body,

***BBOOOOOOMMMM***

The sound of a nuclear weapon going hot could be heard throughout the continent. The shock wave hit everyone including the distant rocks and many were losing balance in the wave.

"DAMN!" Hawkeye yelled as he coughed and got back to his feet.

"My God! He's probably dead and now we gotta clean up this mess again!" Said Scarlet Witch as she readied her powers only to stop at the revelation when the dust cleared.

Every superhero there completely lost their sanity at the sight of what just happened.

"NO WAY! This is crazy! How's that even possible? That force would shatter a city!" asked Iceman puzzled at the reality he's been facing. But what they saw after the smoke cleared made them gaping like fish except the few.

Everyone saw the Spartan standing firm unharmed, but the same can't be said about the Juggernaut.

Juggernaut was fazed as he was lying on the ground blown to many feet away from the armored being.

"WHAT-...THE-...? THAT WASN'T SUPPOSE TO HAPPEN!" Juggernaut was confused as he slowly got up to his feet, his face slightly revealing a little amount of fear at his own momentary weakness.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DID THIS FREAK! BUT I CAN STILL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HA-...AAHHHH!" Juggernaut spoke only to receive a punch from Hulk which sent him flying back and make him bleed for the first time with the helmet broken by force. Hulk then turned to face the Spartan who was so close to his height and smirked at him. John simply shrugged his shoulders.

The other heroes walked to him,

"I knew what you were doing, just like what you did with Skurge! But still, this is beyond anything I have seen" Rogers replied to which John nodded.

"I don't understand how you are not a squashed jellyfish with not even a scratch is beyond me. No one in this world had been able to survive that! Who are you and where are you from?" Jean grey asked peering at him.

"I will soon answer your questions. But we now have a criminal to prosecute" he responded in calmness.

"He's right. We need to stop him first. Now that the force field is down, we can hurt him like hell" Iron man said.

"Can't wait to do a rock slide on him" Ben said as he clapped his fist.

"Let's go Avengers!" Captain America said as he assembled everyone.

Juggernaut recovered from the faze as he got back to his feet wiping the blood from his face which made him angry.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" he roared as he sprinted towards the heroes.

Steve threw the shield so hard to his face that made him grunt in pain, Jean used her telekinesis to lift him mid-air with his momentum carrying on. Hank Pym was riding on an insect when he grew huge and punched him that sent him hit the ground and create a deep crater. Ben Grimm leapt high and stomped over the helmet being's body where he spewed some more blood in pain. But Juggernaut still had the strength as he raised his arm to punch Ben in his face that sent him flying.

Hank then used his helmet to communicate with the nearby insects to swarm around Juggernaut.

"AARR-...GET OFF ME!" he yelled as he tried to get rid of the insects when Black Widow and Hawkeye threw shot him with Air burst tipped arrows and stun grenades that knocked him down.

"EAT THIS!" Captain Marvel flew and landed a hard kick to his chest that sent him back a few feet and hit him with photon blast. Tony Stark created a make shift propelled hammer and beat him with blunt force that started to hurt him a lot. Juggernaut did a right cross which Iron blocked with both his arms still pushed back a few feet away. Once again he charged at him, but when Cain swung his left arm for a hook, he ducked under and gave a soaring uppercut that lifted him off the ground.

Gambit then charged his Bo staff and hit it's tip to Juggernaut's abdomen. The energy exploded and crash landed him to the ground. The unstoppable Juggernaut who was curb stomping the heroes couldn't believe he was getting his ass handed to him. All because of the Spartan who weakened him which gave the other heroes the opening they needed.

"I CAN'T...URRR-... BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!" Juggernaut said as he took a look at the beating he received. For some reason, the force field didn't come up.

Juggernaut was bleeding everywhere.

"Don't you still get it? It's over Cain Marko. I don't know how you escaped the vault prison. But we are giving you one chance to surrender peacefully" Natasha warned him as the others got ready.

"NEVER!" he roared.

"As you wish!" Susan replied with a smirk.

When Juggernaut once again charged at the heroes, the Spartan hit his body with charged up adamantine hammer with sheer strength that knocked the breath out of him,

"GUHH-.."

Then a bash to his face that drew blood from his cheek as it exposed from the broken helmet.

Hulk then bashed his body with his shoulders that made him reel on the ground and then give two quick punches to his face and a kick followed by a thrown energy ball which the Spartan made in his left palm that exploded on him,

"BAHH-..."

One thing John agreed was that even after getting beaten up brutally, Juggernaut still has the endurance and stamina to pursue the fight. He then ran towards him to hit him again. Before the Juggernaut could see him John ducked under his swinging right arm while he summoned a huge energy sword in his right fist formed by telekinetically assembled photons and

*SHOOOSH*

The sword pierced his body making him bleed from his torso.

"AAHHH" Juggernaut roared in pain. John then dismantled the sword.

Ice-man then manipulated his arms into a big spiked hammer and hit him with all his strength that hurt him even more.

"Now is the time, remove the gem out of him!" John yelled,

"I got it. Everyone, MOVE OUT!" Stark yelled as he hovered above the ground and charged up his chest energy projector as his HUD was displaying the status. When it hit 100%,

"BLAST OFF!" he said as he shot a powerful beam that burned through Juggernaut as the gem got forcefully removed from him and the power amplifier burned out completely. Slowly the red energy was fading from him.

"NOOOOOOOOoooooooooo-...Please Stop!" Juggernaut who was unstoppable, slowly transformed back into human form gradually with the dress getting burned out and the helmet completely destroyed, where once laid the avatar of Cyttorak, now stands a mere human criminal, Cain Marko, the half brother of Xavier. Stark stopped the energy projection and dropped to the ground. While the show came to an end, it was not truly over for the Spartan as his armor picked up something weird.

When Tony fired the energy projector, John's augmented reality display in the helmet picked up quantum distortion around Tony's armor which made John to give wry look at the chest piece. John immediately scanned Tony's ARC reactor and the display revealed the information which made the stoic person to brood at the sight.

 _ **Scanning initiated 1 2...100**_  
 _ **Complete...**_  
 _ **Subtle quantum distortion detected...tracking source...**_  
 _ **Distortion matching lattice shift of the previously known element...**_  
 _ **REPORT: Forerunner crystal identified!**_

The last line blinked in red as John's eyes widened a bit.

"How that's-...How the hell can it be here?" John was stunned to the presence of an object native to his universe. John having been through humanity's best and worst times was not new to anything impossible. But the forerunner crystal, a forerunner object in another universe is not what he expected. This revelation here made him to question a lot of things, even about this universe and the forerunners themselves. But he knew he had to keep a calm head, so he decided to stow it for now. He then sent an encrypted message in SHIELD frequency.

The heroes surrounded Cain Marko as he slowly woke up to the sight of the heroes surrounding him armed. He was breathing as if feeling tired and sighed at the heroes.

"Can I have something to eat? I am feeling tired!" he said innocently.

"SHIELD would be happy to give you a nice hot meal in prison" Hawkeye jested with a smirk.

"SHIELD!? Please wait, NO! Listen, I didn't do it on my own. I was dragged in to this! I swear on my life! Please!" he started begging to the heroes.

"Yeah yeah, I know that. Who can break into Vault and help you out? We will find the ones behind this. We have no shortage of enemies" Black Widow said in stern voice.

That's when they heard the Triskellion hovering in the sky above them.

"We never called the SHIELD...not yet and how are they here on time?" asked Rogers in confusion after seeing the SHIELD forces in Rockies.

"I did" the Spartan replied to which the others looked at him.

With multiple drop ships landing on the ground and the SHIELD soldiers and prison guards setting up to quarantine the entire rockies.

"Huh, looks like the cavalry has arrived!" Danvers said with a laugh.

Then they all were greeted by a drop ship nearby them. The door opened as the SHIELD's director Nick Fury walked out with two soldiers escorting him. The one eyed man slowly approached the heroes as he looked at them one by one, then at Cain Marko and then at last at the Spartan whom he's meeting for the first time face to face. Fury was giving him a wary look.

"Fury, as always come to collect your souvenir?" asked Bobby drake flexing his muscles.

"I do, Ice man-...Take the prisoner" he ordered the guards, who then proceeded to cuff him with advanced hand cuffs designed to hold super criminals. Then he once again stared at the towering 7'10" armored being.

"So?...Spartan huh? You were one that sent the signal? Well, I managed to poke my eye into the fight from the sky. I should say, there is a reason why the world government and enemies fear your presence" Fury said without any expression.

"They have nothing to fear from me, unless they have any hostile intentions" he replied casually. For Fury, this seemed like a threat.

"Is that a threat, Spartan?" asked Fury shrinking his eyebrows.

"A fact" he gave a one line response. But Fury was truly impressed by his demeanor. He being a former soldier himself and having fought several criminal organizations and terrorists, including his own brother Jacob, his life and career has taught him a lot. He can easily differentiate friend and foe. But as for the Spartan, he has not yet decided, but he could see a soldier's discipline in him.

"At any rate. Thanks for your help" Fury said as he extended his hands. John shook hands with him.

"But remember this, the SHIELD's board of directors wanted an explanation from you. They wanted to hold a conference with you for formal interrogation. I hope you understand."

John for his part knew this was gonna be obvious. He was still an unknown but earned certain people's trust with his actions. But still this was all a long shot.

"I understand" he said.

"Well that's all lovely, but do we know how did Cain Marko escaped the vault?" asked Gambit to which Fury rubbed his chin. It was like he knew the truth still hesitating to tell everyone.

That's when a beeping sound kept repeating from Iron-Man's armor. Others looked at him in confusion.

"Gotta check who-...What the hell?"

"What happened Tony?" asked Hank

"I am receiving transmission in an unknown spectrum from eastern Europe" Stark said as he processed the signal to answer the call.

Then he opened his left palm when a huge holographic image of a man in a silver armor, green cape and a metal mask showed himself up to everyone's surprise and everyone displayed hostility towards the humanity's biggest enemy.

"DOOM! And why am I not surprised?" Susan scorned at him.

"Oh fair Susan. It is obvious that I am the puppet master of this show, ha ha" he said with no remorse.

"So you let Cain escape the vault and wreck havoc. Never one to care about casualties, huh?" asked Captain America in anger.

"You're right Captain. Besides, I do have a reason for setting this stage"

"So what tempted you to kill thousands today?" asked Fury in a castigating tone.

"Fury, You always mistake me. Well, I only wanted to see the abilities of the one who solely turned the tide of today's fight, the great Spartan" he said turning to look at the towering figure and everyone single person there was gazing at the Spartan. The feeling of fear and wariness can be seen in all the eyes. Of course, John proved himself to be dangerous. But then when he gets the attention of really bad guys, the tension in the air is sure to rise.

"So you are behind this, Victor Von Doom. You have zero disregard for lives and other's safety. you will be dead if you were here now. Consider yourself lucky" John said calmly yet the threat he carried in his words were heavy enough to garner everyone's attention. The other heroes felt that he wouldn't hesitate to do it and that he would take a life in a blink of an eye.

Doom himself was no fool, having witnessed his powers, he too would tread carefully on this one. But he didn't express it to the others.

"As petty as threats go, you sure do carry a huge arsenal of powers and technology with you, both here and as well as 'ABOVE'. I should say, your armor is highly intriguing. Surviving that impact is a feat beyond imagining". This made John to tense a bit as the last word was cryptic something which he didn't find amusing.

"I get it. So you are after his technology and powers. And then trying to make him join your filthy cause?" asked Tony folding his hands and tilting his head in scorn.

"I do have an offer to propose. I always have something in exchange for his knowledge. For now you passed the test! See you again! Besides, you will come to me" he said as he vanished. Everyone sighed in frustration. The idea of Spartan gaining attention of Doom didn't sit well with them.

"Doom did this all to get you" Fury said turning his head down. John felt this was all because of him and this whole mess was in his hands.

"I'm sorry Director Fury, This was unexpected" that was all John could muster up. But Fury could feel the sincerity in his words.

"No matter. It's not like Doom hasn't done that before. But we will always be ready. Anyways, thanks for your help" said Fury to which he nodded.

"We need to help the civilians in the town" Captain Rogers said.

'Don't bother yourself. SHIELD's medical team is already en route to the location. Take your off and rest well" Fury said. John was somehow felt interested with the way the director spoke to them. It's like as if he trusts them.

He then proceeded to leave the place as all the SHIELD officers boarded the drop ship and left for the Triskellion.

"You gotta be careful big guy. Doom's not someone to mess with. He's dangerous and cunning than that purple nutsack Thanos" Hawkeye said to which he looked at him in confusion.

"Who?" he asked with out a clue.

"Thanos, the mad titan, inter-galactic warmonger. He's so dangerous that we even hesitate to say his name" Captain Marvel replied as she recalled her earlier bouts with the titan. John made a note of this Thanos character as he didn't find any SHIELD files on him.

"But I gotta say, you got a pretty impressive hardware over there. No wonder you have been the talk of this world since the Chitauri attack. The Avengers could really use someone like you" Tony said with amusement.

"Oh god! Here we go again!" Carol covered her forehead and sighed.

"Tony, sometimes your excitement gets the best in you" she said.

"Hey Carol, I can't help but being curious. Besides I really meant well. He really could be a valuable member of our team" he replied as he retracted his nano-helmet.

"That's a tempting offer. But I do prefer to work alone. But should you need my help. You can always reach me in this channel" he said as he sent a network package to Stark's armor. Tony received a notification which he acknowledged.

"Well Well. That's interesting. I'm really looking forward working with you big man!" he said to which he nodded.

"Then we better move guys. I am feeling tired from fight!" asked Hawkeye shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.

"Sure as hell we all are. Thanks for helping to sort this out. See you all later" Stark bid farewell with some as the heroes started to Disassemble.

John watched the Quin-jet and X-jet touching the ground for pickup. Then came the Fantastic-car at last.

"The offers still open up and if you need our help any time, make sure to call us" Stark shook his hand, though the Spartan's eyes were gazing at the Stark's chest piece.

"I will make sure to find everything's connected to it" he thought.

As everyone left, Susan and Ben grimm were the last to board their craft. But John stopped them in middle, calling them out.

"Ms. Susan, Mr. Grimm" he called out their names. Both Susan and Grimm were surprised to that, wondering why did he stop them both specifically, but she found him friendly from his tone and demeanor.

"Yes Spartan?" she asked un-nervingly looking at the towering figure with calm.

"Ya need help?" Ben added.

"I do. I take it your husband is one of the foremost expert in Multiversal science and your team has practical experiences with exploring alternate dimensions" he asked to which the duo looked at each other in bizarre. Susan was wondering why this man was asking questions on that specific topic. Of course, he was right on that regard, the team does have experience with alternate universes. Even managed to fend evil versions of themselves. Reed mentioned to Susan once that some of his evil versions had no moral scruple and that he never visited those places and was deeply traumatized by the experience for quite some time.

"Huh, you don't say. Can't imagine how many times we have done that" Ben replied vaguely.

"Is there a reason for asking that specifically?" she asked curiously. John found this was the right opportunity to seek their help.

"Yes, but I need an audience with your husband. I am aware that you are resided in the Baxter building. Just whenever he is free, I can drop by" he said. Both were thinking for quite sometime. They didn't know much about him, but he had helped against two biggest attacks and despite his stature, he doesn't sound hostile. So they decided to see this through.

"Alright, at weekends, he's easy to catch up. On the other days, he's little busy with thesis, lecture and research bla bla bla...soooo" Ben replied.

"I'm sorry, but in weekends, I have-...another commitment. Will I be able to catch him on Monday?" he asked. Susan raised her eyebrows and then shrugged her shoulders after making a decision.

"Sure, I will have him available on Monday. Deal?" she asked with a smile.

"Deal!" he firmly responded.

"Alright, then see you on Monday Spartan. By the way, Reed's gonna throw himself on the floor if he hears about this" She said with a jest as they both receded back to the Fantastic-Car. John watched as Ben pilot the craft as it slowly lifted of the ground with hum and leave the place.

"Cortana, I need a drop ship with supplies to help with recovery in the town side" he said.

"In a minute" She responded.

Then John went to the town to help with recovery as he helped the civilians, both wounded and those in deaths grip. There were also these SHIELD medical team. He also helped them with their assistance, the cops and strike teams that were severely wounded with his medical pack. The people there were astounded with the help they received as he helped everyone single handedly to make sure of full recovery. Some of the SHIELD's medical team amazed with the serums and medicines that John supplied that instantly healed severe wounds, burns and boils along with bringing some people from death with the recovery nanites. The media was already there with many reporters taking pictures of the massacre and the Spartan helping the people. There was also a chopper in the scene that took aerial video shoot. Then the construction repairs took place and the Spartan decided to move on.

"That went well. Now onto the other matters" he thought as he mentally sent a command to the translocation unit in his armor that teleported him out of that place into a yellow light instantly.

...

 **On Sakaar...**

Thor was in a constrained circular hall where he was thrown down by Grand master's guards. He spent most of the time in isolation, even asking the inmates Korg and Miek to leave him alone for sometime. Thor had a rough time, losing his father, family, friends and now, the whole of Asgard. The one who calls himself King Hyperion invaded Asgard with the mindless ones. He even laid out the plan to retrieve the cosmic seed from the roots of Yggdrasil. Thor dreads for such an act would not only destroy Asgard but the entirety of 9 realms.

"Midgard! No!" he thought with anger and sorrow. The thought of Midgard brings memories of his time with the Avengers, the victories and losses he endured besides his brethren, his mortal lover Jane Foster. He misses them so much. But apart from that, he's the son of the elder goddess of Earth- Gaea, hence he has a natural fondness for Earth.

"I miss them so much. May the dead rest in the great halls of Valhalla! Feast in eternal joy!" he muttered just enough for another voice to raise behind him.

"Praying for the dead, huh?"

Thor immediately turned back to see no one but his brother Loki. He sighed and he sat on the floor leaning behind the wall with stoic expression in his face glaring at him with indifference.

"I should say, I miss them so much myself! But that's life I suppose" he said with a smirk. Thor was silent.

"Still, I have devised a plan to get away from this misery. But that depends on you. If you win this fight today somehow, the Grand master will be pissed and that's what we needed! The ensuing chaos will help me get us to steal a ship from herrreeeerrrannndddd..." he said and he progressed to wave his hands indicating that they would both get the hell out of that place.

But Thor was still silent which started to irritate the god of mischief.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING!?" Loki gritted his teeth and pressed the words against him.

"I'm offering a chance to escape. Maybe even get back to Asgard to die try saving it from that mad man and you don't even flinch!" he said with little anger. The still ensuing silence from his brother made his sigh and give up as he nodded his head in disappointment.

"Fine, if you plan to stay and rot here, be my guest. I will do things by myself, like I always had!" he said trying to trigger an expression from Thor. But Thor simply chuckled and nothing.

"WHY DON"T YOU SAY SOMETHING. IS THIS SOME SILENT TREATMENT?!" this time he yelled a little louder. Thor took a deep breath as he decided to break his silence.

"What would you ask me to say? You trapped our father to his death which led Hyperion to ruin Asgard, kill our friends, families, innocent people and what not! And this all happened in just a few days, one of your glorious mischievous adventures that costed everything! Or would you rather have me go back further to list out everything!? Thor asked with silent raging anger. Loki was quite startled with his tone and was quite nervous. He had all reasons to be as he knew Thor was right.

"Okay, I accept everything you said about me. That's true. But now I wanted to change things, right the wrong!" he said though his voice didn't express 100% honesty.

Thor shrunk his eyebrows in confusion.

"Is this some newly found compunction? An urge to do the right thing?" he asked wondering if he truly meant those, though he wouldn't be surprised if not.

"Heavens No! I don't trust grand master to keep his word. There will come a time when he feels I'm no longer needed and he won't hesitate to kill me. Besides, if I am to rule Asgard, then I can't do it from here" he said to which Thor was disgusted, but at least acknowledged the honesty about his true nature.

"Still, escape is a long shot. Grand master is not someone to be trifled with. He's one of the elders of the universe and I don't see you succeed in outsmarting him!" Thor said pointing out the logic.

"Then we will use force to blast our way through" came a voice so familiar to Thor which made him to get up and turn to his left to see a red headed man, as muscular as him wearing some ornate native gladiatorial armor slowly walking towards him.

Thor's eyes wide opened in surprise, but at the same time overjoyed to see him, for he never in a million life time imagined he would come face to face with this man after a long time. This man is in fact an Eternal, the god of sun, his brother in arms and above all, a fellow Avenger.

His name is Marcus Milton a.k.a Hyperion, Son of Helios, an Eternal and the cousin of Thanos and his siblings. But Hyperion's own world had to be abandoned due to unstable geological activity caused by prolonged scorching of planet's natural resources. The sad part was that he was the sole Eternal survivor of his world and in the late 90s, he found earth after wandering the cosmos. Living under the guise of Marcus Milton until he joined the Avengers. Despite the superior technological advancements, his people couldn't escape the impending doom.

"Marcus?" Thor called him out and haven't yet recovered from the amazement.

"Greetings Thor, You look-...not so good. I mean-...you look quite beaten up! But what the hell are you doing on this god forsaken world? Thought you were still with the Avengers" he asked surprised to see the Thunder god here.

"I should ask the same thing to you. You were the first to leave the team to take care of some urgent business. What are you doing here?" Thor asked back.

Marcus's face turned despondent as he slowly walked towards the wall and leaned behind folding his hands. Loki and Thor shared a glance before listening to him.

"Why don't you tell me-...did he take over Asgard?" Hyperion asked which stunned Thor, though not sure what he was referring to.

"I don't understand your question"

"King Hyperion-...as he calls himself...Did he get Asgard?" he asked looking at him and both Thor and Loki were stupefied as they began to wonder if he's already aware of the situation.

"Wait, you knew all this time? Hah!...let me rephrase it...Did you know he was gonna invade Asgard already?" Loki asked in frustration.

"I do" he replied monotonically. Thor for a second felt anger and betrayed as he clenched his fists, but then he calmed himself down. Thor knew the sun god long enough that he's not the one to jest.

"Huh, why do you think I left the team months before you did?" Hyperion asked as he slowly walked towards them both.

"What happened?" Thor asked to which he instantly replied in growling tone,

"SHIT happened!" he then composed himself to tell the story. Thor and Loki understood something was not right from the beginning and decided to take this seriously.

"The Nova corps signaled me for my help. The Guardians of the galaxy were already on a different mission, so I was their only choice to help them. They said a planet was all of a sudden shattered to pieces in the Arcturus system, located hundreds of millions of light years across from Earth. That planet is in fact a Xandarian outpost. There was no transmission or distress signal during that event. Also a powerful gravimetric waves strong enough to knock a planet out of its orbit was scattered throughout. I was directly able to sense it. So I went to investigate only to find a broken planet and a dead body of a celestial being floating, severed in half, Exitar, the exterminator"

Thor and Loki now understood what were the events that transpired before.

"Now I get it. He told me that he killed a celestial to become more powerful" Thor responded rubbing his chin. Loki was all of a sudden feeling dreaded as he didn't knew that he had killed a celestial. He wondered what he could do to them.

"What happened next?" Loki asked though the mischief maker knew he would regret hearing the reply.

"When I neared the being to investigate, that's when-...I met him, King Hyperion, a brutal evil version of myself brought from another universe. I fought him for 2 days straight, but with his new found powers, I was no match for him. He made a quick work of me and knocked me out cold where I ended up here"

"Did he say anything I don't know already?" Thor asked. Hyperion once again recalled his memories regarding what he said.

"He said, he was brought back by his 'Master', the one who wishes to rule the multiverse, breaking the barrier and unite them all under one banner. Not sure what that pile of crap actually meant. And for that, he's on a mission to collect the most powerful artifacts for him. Starting with the Cosmic seed. That's how I figured out he was gonna attack Asgard first" Hyperion replied to which Thor and Loki were deadpanned. Thor walked a few steps away to ponder on everything he learned.

"So that is why he invaded Asgard with the mindless ones. We need to stop him. And this master of his, It's clear that there's someone behind all these playing an intricate game" Thor said to them. But what he couldn't understand is why would someone go so far to bring a being from an alternate universe.

"I do have a doubt though. You encountered him and you know this would happen. You could have escaped this place to warn everyone" Loki asked. Marcus knew this was an obvious question.

"That's because of this star. It's electro magnetic radiation lies in different spectral energy levels. The photonic matter has negated my powers. I am just an ordinary person. My Eternal physiology is what that holds me together, but I no longer have the cosmic powers. Do you think I am here willingly, Loki?" he asked with mild distaste for which Thor felt sorry. He could see that his friend Hyperion was on the same boat like him.

Of course, Hyperion's body absorbs a star's radiation and triggers nuclear fusion that gives him cosmic powers. But Stars of certain spectral classifications negates his abilities. But a blue giant star though augments his powers 10 times than that of class G star(Sun) like in one instance, he was nourished by one such star for just 10 minutes, he was strong enough to physically move away a 55 billion solar mass black hole that was about to destroy a star system in a distant giant elliptical galaxy occupied by a civilization who had just achieved space travel.

Though his biggest feat of strength was when he physically held a dimensional rupture whose force was equivalent to weight of a whole universe, during the time with the Avengers when he had to save everyone when Annihilus from negative zone was planning to destroy their universe. Though this act severely tired his body. Once his cells absorb enough energy, the nuclear fusion becomes self sustained such that he can stay isolated from star light for years. His atomic vision is as hot as Sun's core. Only few beings like Thor, Hulk, Shiar Gladiator can match his prowess.

Apart from that, he is also extremely intelligent and trained in martial arts. His brain is an assembled non-linear photonic array. His can do the most complex quantum mechanical calculations in micro-seconds and his mind works so fast that his memories and current perceptions are super-imposed.

"So, How do we get out of this place?" Thor asked.

"Loki has come up with an idea that I quite like it" Hyperion replied to which he was confused.

"Wait, you trust him?" asked Thor in dilemma to which Loki expresses displeasure in his face.

"Not sure, but Grand master's got him on a short leash. So he could be useful at least until we escape" He said with a smirk.

"Ha ha, very funny Marcus!" Loki chided to which he chuckled. And all of a sudden, the room's door opened and came two guards.

"The Grand master wants the lord of thunder to get ready. The match is about to begin" said one guard. Thor was irritated, but decided not to play balls.

"He will be there in five minutes" Loki replied and the guards left the room.

"Hey man, heard the match is about to start. Thor, hope you are ready for this bout. I have heard this champion is astonishingly savage!" Korg said smiling.

"I do my friend. Ready to kick whoever's arse gets in my way" Thor replied with fist bump.

"Once this is over, we all get off this place and free Asgard from that tyrant" Marcus added to which others nodded. Then they left the room. The day has just begun for them and there's a long way to go. And they can't do this alone.

...

 **On Asgard...**

King Hyperion was walking restless in the great hall where Amora and Skurge were standing by as they share a share a glance. There were mindless ones and Chitauri guards standing in line nearby pillars.

"My King, I can see the events are bothering you, but we can set this right" Skurge said to which Hyperion's eye glowed in raging red. He instantly flew near him, staring face to face. Skurge was nervous to core and he already prepared for the worst he could do to him. But then he calmed.

"Huh, you got your ass kicked by that Spartan. Don't give me second thoughts about being scared!" he gritted as he slowly walked away from him.

"But Hyperion, you still succeeded in everything. You would have the cosmic seed just like you planned" said Amora, though her face was like something was going in her mind.

"That's not easy. I have under-estimated this Spartan. He alone repelled the whole invasion. He's so powerful just like he said" Hyperion said tensed.

"I don't mean to pry, but does this master of yours have a name?" Skurge asked. King Hyperion was confused.

"No, he didn't give me. He brought me here to help him collect the powerful artifacts of the cosmos"

"You are powerful enough to kill a celestial. It shouldn't have been difficult for you to go against being treated as a servant" Amora said which slightly irritated him, though she was citing logic.

"No, I can't even comprehend the powers that he carries. He's not even physical, just an abstract consciousness that was guiding me all this time. All he ever wanted was the artifacts to collect and that he can't do it by himself, he needed a proxy, which is me" he replied.

"What of this Spartan?" Skurge asked.

"I have no time for him. He said, he wanted to drag him from his place so that he is alone here and my master can kill him. He will take care of that. I'm already in due for getting him the cosmic seed" he said.

"One thing that bothers me is, why would any one go to such lengths in bringing just one person from another universe in the name of trap?" Amora asked for which the Hyperion himself was confused about.

"Because he said, as long as the Spartan is there, he's untouchable. He even said, in the future, Humanity under his leadership will conquer the universe and put an end to my master's schemes. Now that he's not there, He can use the artifacts I am collecting for him to break free of his restraints, enter our realm and bring his plans to fruition. Because of my nature, he trusts me and gave me this task and if I return empty handed-...huh-...I don't even want think about that. It's either victory or my own demise" he replied which shook them both. Amora was thinking what could possibly exist out there that even the King Hyperion, a Celestial killer, fears.

"And what if he's aware of this plot? That will make your journey even more tough" Amora said as she walked near him.

"I know. But that's my master's headache, not mine. I will complete my work and go on my way. Which brings me to my next question, when will I be able to extract the cosmic seed?" he asked now getting serious.

"It's not that easy. Odin's spell protects the tree from harm. My powerful magic potion will take time to break the spell. It will be over in two days and you will have the seed" she replied though wary of his intentions.

"Good! Once I'm done with this, I will hunt down the next set of artifacts. The Infinity stones!" he said with an evil smirk that stupefied both Amora and Skuge in fear. The infinity stones are objects of universal power that even one stone can cause unparalleled destruction.

"By the lords! What is he planning? What am I doing?" Amora for the first time worried about the consequences of his quest ever since she joined him for her own survival.

...

 **On Sakaar...**

 ****MULTIPLE CHEERS...CROWD SCREAMING AND CHEERING IN THE ARENA****

There were multiple loud screams and noises around the arena cheering for the gladiator match that's about to happen. Loki was taking a spot in the front hall who took a glass of blue wine from a plate and had a seat near Grand master. Korg, Meik and Marcus Milton took the spot in one of the long windows usually reserved for the workers and other inmates.

Grand master stood out from his seat and used his powers to augment his voice so that it would echo the whole arena.

"Welcome everyone! I see you are enjoying yourselves!" he said.

** **SCREAMS AND CHEERS****

 **"** Now onto our main event, Let us first welcome our contender, he's an Asgardian and most of all the Lord of Thunder!..." he says as the door on one end of the arena opens and out comes Thor, in a battle armor( _ **Avengers-Infinity war without cape and metal sleeves**_ ). Also the odd thing was, he's been given a haircut( _ **MCU version**_ ). He came out only for the people of Sakaar to boo him.

"Thor with a haircut? Seriously? Gimme a break!" Marcus thought with a chuckle.

** **LOUD JEERS****

 **"** And now comes the most dreaded warrior of the universe, the one who have conquered worlds across realms in a fighting contest!" The Grand master said as the skies started to roar and flames started to cover the clouds. Thor for his part was wondering who could possibly be making such a grand entrance.

"He is the REIGNING! DEFENDING!..."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, MY BROTHER! THE CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE!" Grand master finished as the sky once again crackled and all of a sudden,

**BOOM**

A being landed in the arena with an earth shaking force as the applause grew even more louder. But the opponent's name instantly startled both Loki and Hyperion.

"Oh MY GOD!" Loki thought as he was gaping his mouth like a fish, giving a quick glance at the grand master who was grinning like a madman and turned to look at Thor's pathetic state.

"SHIT! Thor's very much dead!" Hyperion thought not so happy. For Thor, he knew this Champion as he had already faced him before on Earth, but lost the match as he was an elder of the universe and was technically more powerful than him.

"You again!? I am already feeling tired of fighting clowns" Thor said as he nodded feeling disappointed, though wary as he knew Champion's powerful than him and also he was bigger.

"HAH HA! Look who it is? The Asgardian God of Thunder who got steam rolled on Earth the last time we met" Champion mocked which made Thor to chuckle as if he doesn't care about his boasts.

"Last time, you beat me. But this time, it will be different" Thor said.

"We will see that Thunderer!...RRRRAAAHHHH!" the Champion responded as he leapt high in the sky pounded the ground, but Thor ducked to his right. But was immediately met with reverse left arm swing, which he evaded and then a quick successions of left and right cross and right hook which Thor easily blocked and evaded with his equal strength. But then he was met with a reverse leg sweep which Thor countered with a back flip. Thor for his part was analyzing his fight pattern, being a warrior for thousands of years, he is an adept and agile fighter and is level headed when it comes to fighting superior opponents. After a leg sweep he connected it with a flip kick which he evaded simply by taking a couple steps back and that's when he saw an opening where Thor used his strength to punch his face hard with his right fist that sent him flying many feet back on the ground where he crash landed but used the momentum to get back to his feet.

Suddenly the entire arena was silent as Grand master's eyes shrunk in wariness. Loki was bug eyed at the sight of his brother punching the Champion. Hyperion was keenly watching the fight's progression.

Champion of the Universe or Tryco Slatterus as he is named, is one of the most powerful being in the universe having born billions of years ago and constantly grew in power by fighting. He is cold, ruthless and calculative and he has destroyed thousands of planets after their respective champions have lost in a fighting match with him. But there were those who pushed him to the edge in fight like Hulk, Thing, Hyperion, Gladiator, She-Hulk, Thor and Hercules. Though he respects those who provides a great challenge, but in the end, it never made any difference to him.

"You are impressive Thunder god! But not enough to impress me!" Champion says as he get ready and suddenly speed blitz to his side, which Thor was able to clearly see, but then a series of blitz movement in random direction began to confuse him and that's when he landed straight towards him delivered a powerful punch to his face that could have shattered a mountain. Thor flew and hit the other end of the arena with force that broke the wall.

** **LOUD CHEERS** "HURRAH"**

The Sakaarians cheered loud for the Champion. Thor for a moment was stunned, but still this was nothing.

"Do you think he will win?" Korg asked Marcus with worry. Marcus was wondering the same thing. He himself has faced the Champion and is well aware of his strength.

"*SIGH* Not sure Korg, but I think this will be interesting!" he replied honestly.

Immediately the Champion broke a huge rock from the ground and threw it at great speed towards him which he avoided being hit. Thor charged at him at great speed and leapt above and stomped the ground in inclined direction that sent a series of ground break that reached the Champion and was about to explode over him, but he evaded by jumping back and that's when Thor found an opening as he speed blitz towards the elder of the universe and delivered a thunderous uppercut sending shock waves that shook the entire arena.

"RRAHH!" the Champion yelled in pain as he flew upward. Thor immediately flew above him, raised both of his hands, holding his fists tight and delivered another pound on him.

*BOOM*

The Champion simply crashed to the ground. Thor then slowed landed on the ground to see if he stayed down. Though he wished he had his hammer as it would grant him abilities to finish this fight quickly. But what he saw next was not pleasing, but tensing.

Grand master on one hand was completely pissed off as he let the Asgardian beat him.

"ENOUGH SCREWING AROUND BROTHER! FINISH HIM!" he yelled. Thor on his part, even though lost his hammer, has complete control over Odin force.

"Time to end this, Champion" Thor said as he channeled the Odin force and his body was covered with blue ethereal energy. He clenched his fist tight as he charged with a force that cracked the Earth, towards the Champion. He raised his fists and was about to deliver a fatal final blow. All of Sakaar was watching it with tense, but when he tried punching him, the impossible happened.

*THUK*

Thor's fist was simply blocked by Champion's left palm. Thor was astounded at the move as he didn't expect this. Loki, for his part was having a nail biting moment and his face turned pale at the sight of this. He didn't like what the Grand master yelled to his brother and what was going on for his sibling. Marcus and Korg were glaring at the progression of this fight.

Champion's eyes glowed demonic red which stunned the thunder god.

"For billions of years, I spent my life fighting and getting stronger. You think a puny Asgardian can take me out?!" he said, this time his voice was growling. Then,

** **BOOOMMM****

He delivered a soaring uppercut which knocked Thor out of balance and he was flying. But when he managed to land on his feet, Champion speed blitz near him and bashed Thor with his shoulder tackle that further sent him back

"GUHH...!" Thor grunted in pain as the Champion's hit were getting harder and harder.

Thor once again got back and delivered a series of jab, cross and left hook which he evaded and connected with a knee blow to Thor's face

"AAHH..." Thor grunted once again. He started to bleed. Even with the Odin force, the elder of the universe was powerful.

When Thor swung his right arm, Champion ducked under and did a left hook to his face. But Thor instantly used his left arm, which he blocked with his right arm and head butt him that stunned Thor for a second but that was all that needed as the Champion kicked him in the chest.

"GUH.." The force behind the kick was breathtaking.

Thor charged at him both were trading a series of punches and kicks which the Champion blocked easily. When Thor tried a right hook, Champion used his right arm to block with a bone breaking force.

"RRRRRHHH..." Thor's right arm became numb for a moment. The Champion immediately grabbed Thor's head and delivered a knee jab followed by a jab and cross. He was becoming fast as lightning by the minute. Thor missed another shot for which the Champion gave a powerful punch to his spine. Thor for his part, can't believe the beating he's getting. First it was the King Hyperion and then now this Elder.

"EHHAA..."

When all else was done, the Champion delivered another uppercut

**BOOM**

that sent Thor flying back and fall to the ground flat

**OHHHH** the Sakaaran people were voicing loud for every hit. When Thor fell, there was silence. Marcus for his part deeply regretted that he couldn't help his brother in arms and a fellow god. Thor was still breathing but battered.

Loki for the first time felt sympathetic for his elder brother as he got out of the couch to stand in disbelief.

"By the gods! What have I done!" he thought with a sigh as he looked at the Grand master who was still grinning.

"He did put up a good fight. But sad he won't make it!" Korg said to which Marcus said nothing but began to tense. He would have stopped it if he still had his cosmic powers.

'Time to die, Asgardian!" Champion growled as he leapt high and stomped over Thor that formed a crater.

**DOOOMMM...KRRRAAAKKK**

Then the Champion began to pound on him. He alternatively delivered continuous right and left punch that carried a force of a meteor impact at re-entry speed.

**BOOOMMM...BAAAMMM...DOOOOMMM...THHHAAAMMMM**

Thor's body was taking it but the beating was hellish and bloody,

**BOOOMM** Thor suddenly saw a vision of a white smoke like being...

**BAAAMMM** Now the vision was getting clear as the smoke began to take a form

**DOOOOMMM** The smoke began to enlarge itself and started to take a form of a ethereal human as a couple of ravens began to fly near the human figure.

**THHHAAAAMMM** The human took the final form of a boy with the two ravens sitting on his shoulders. The boy was smiling at him and then the vision blacked out.

When the Champion was about to deliver another punch with his right arm,

"RRRAAAHHH!" The Champion roared as his fist about to near Thor's face. But then,

**THUK** Thor suddenly raised his left arm and blocked his fist with the palm like nothing. The Champion was stunned for a moment and looked at Thor in shock. Thor after a couple of seconds, opened his eyes that was brightly glowing in ethereal lightning blue. Then all of a sudden, he raised his right arm and delivered an earth breaking punch to the Champion.

**BOOOMMM...KRRAAKKKTHOOOMM** the punch was connected by a lightning blast from his fist that threw him to the sky and then fell to the ground in the far end of the Arena.

Loki was gaping like a fish at the sight of that. Grand master was stunned to see the sudden turn of events. Marcus and Korg were looking at him in awe. The whole crowd started to raise murmuring noises. No one can believe what happened.

Thor slowly got to his feet directly from being flat on ground, just like that, his eyes still glowing in fury.

"How is this possible!?" the Champion asked confused..."But doesn't matter!" he yelled as he charged towards him. Thor calmly raised his right arm and opened his palm. Suddenly a invisible force field slowed down the Champion and halted his movement as he was floating in mid air. Thor then smirked a bit. Then delivered another lightning blast of a punch from his right fist that sent him crashing through the other end of the arena wall.

"AAHH" he roared in pain. Having defeated and destroyed countless worlds, this was totally an alien feeling to him.

The Champion got out and flexed his shoulders, "You think you can take me down!?" he yelled as he charged towards the god of thunder and what he did next was the most astonishing.

"Thor raised both his arms horizontally and moved it like splitting something apart. Suddenly the reality in the local spot got ripped into two. But this wasn't noticed by the Champion as he didn't knew what happened.

"What kind of wicked sorcery is this?" The Champion was confused as he was sure to be aiming Thor, but all of a sudden, he was standing behind him. Before he could turn around. Thor used his both arms to charge the Odin force lightning between his palms and strike his opponent with the blast. Champion was rag dolled around the arena and was quite weakened from the attack.

"no no NO NO! This can't be! What are you doing Brother? FINISH HIM!" Grand master yelled in rage. Loki let a mild grin at the new display of power. Hyperion was astounded.

"Thunder! Thunder! Thunder!..." Korg started the chant soon followed by everyone in his place. After picking up the sound of the chants the crowd in the arena began to slowly chant Thor's name.

"THUNDER! THUNDER! THUNDER!..." ****CHANT CONTINUES****

Champion was clearly pissed off at this.

"HOW? HOW DID YOU DO THAT!" The Champion now asking at the Thunder god confused with the display of power. Thor who had been listening to people's chant took a step forward calmly to answer him.

"I was born to the most powerful Asgardian and an Elder Goddess. But my power doesn't come because of that. It is mine own will to stand up for the innocents, family and friends( _he says as he thinks of his Avengers friends, Asgardian family and people and other innocent people he has helped_ ). It is there I find strength, resolve to stand up for justice even unto my dying breath. Beings like thee will never understand that and was never in thy nature. In the end, you will simply fail!" Thor finished saying.

"Huh..HA...HA HA HA! That was a wonderful talk Thor. But I am an elder of the universe and your words don't mean a damn thing to me. Hmm, I hope you will be remembered" he said as he charged at full speed.

"RRRAAAHHHHH!"

But Thor ran at full speed as he leapt above and delivered a thunderous punch with lightning charged fist that spun him up side down and made him fall flat. The shock wave from the punch sent vibrations across half of the planet. The Champion lay unconscious before the might of the thunder god, fallen and beaten.

Thor then grabbed him and lifted him on his shoulders. He then hovered in the air and met the Grand Master face to face with fiery blue eyes. Grand master gritted his teeth though, he had to accept the fact, that he had got the job done.

"Uh Mark? What just happened man?" Korg asked in confusion.

"Thor won! It's fascinating" he replied with a smile. Korg was stunned to hear that as no one had ever defeated the Grand Master's Champion, yet he smiled.

"Perhaps I have under estimated you Thor. You have grown stronger than I imagined" Grand master said with bitterness, though something told him not mess with him. Loki was looking stunned at his brother who was carrying the unconscious Champion. Even he himself never thought Thor would come out in victory.

"We have a new Champion! Thor the Thunderer has won the gladiatorial fight! All hail the champion!" he said to which the crowd erupted in rejoice.

"HURRAH!" The crowd roars for the new champion.

**CHEERS CONTINUE**

"Now would you be kind to return my brother?"

"Your wish!" Thor replied as he held the Champion in both of his arms and did a mental chant and the Champion began to glow and all of a sudden, he turned in to a small stone statue which he held in his right palm.

"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Grand master asked in agony at the sight of what happened to his brother.

"Nothing, I have just turned him into a stone. After two days, he will become normal as ever. But you try to stab me in the back? That stone is what will remain of your brother!" Thor said with the grimness in his voice which even made the mischief god to become pale.

*GASP* Never before an Elder of the universe was threatened this way. Something in the Grandmaster's mind screamed not to try making a mess with this man. Also, the fact that his brother has been defeated fair and square for the first time in billion years.

He then allowed Thor to pass through to inside. Loki followed him in. Marcus and Korg who were till the end of the fight decided to go and meet Thor. Hyperion was curious to know what happened.

A few hours later, as Thor was in the main hall, Marcus and Loki came to see him.

"Brother!? That was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. You never told me you knew rune magic?" Loki asked shockingly as well as surprised to see his Brother's new abilities.

"I didn't know either. We need to get the hell out of this place. We need to go to Earth!"

"Agreed on that part" Marcus un-nervingly agreed. As the three made their way to their chambers.

Back at the personal chambers, Thor washed his hands and Marcus and Loki were standing there ready to make a plan.

"So, how do we escape?" asked Thor. Marcus and Loki were confused.

"You're asking us? We thought, you could take us out! Your hammer can summon portals, doesn't it?" Loki replied in confusion.

"Yes, your hammer, I noticed you didn't have it before when we met here and I believe you had a very good reason to hide it. But now that you have won this match, bring your hammer" Marcus said who too was confused.

Thor's face turned despondent as he looked down and then at both of them.

"Mjolnir is destroyed. Without that, I can't summon a portal to Earth. Sorry to break the bad news and also with my new abilities, I am not powerful enough to transport us across the universe" he replied which stunned the two. Though Marcus vaguely assumed it's fate on a hunch.

"Lemme guess, he destroyed that too!?" Marcus asked to which Thor was silent which confirmed his suspicion.

"Damn! Now what do we do?" asked Loki, feeling defeated.

"Plan B. We need to steal a ship, capable enough to carry us to Earth" Thor replied.

"There is only ship in the hanger capable of that. Crew capacity - 1000, fitted with a warp drive. But only Grand Master has access to it...Hah! Its funny to note that Loki came up with this exact same strategy as backup, back when I told you he had a plan. Looks like this is it" Marcus replied with a laugh. Thor turned to look at Loki raising his eyebrows.

"Oh we are definitely getting out of this place!" Loki replied with a smile.

"I have access to the security codes to his ship. Only thing we need to worry about is how to get in there past the guards" replied Loki which relieved the two as he proved more useful.

"We can always talk with our fists" Thor replied in calm.

"Grand master's not stupid and not without plans of his own. He has some artifacts that he can use it against us. It will be collateral. Trust me, you won't like it!" Marcus answered.

"Agreed, we should sneak past or on the contrary, create a chaos in here, unpredictable even to the Grand master. We can use that time to sneak into the hanger" Thor replied then smiled at them both,

"I think I have an idea!" he said.

...

 **SHIELD Triskellion...**

Director Fury, Phil Coulson and Maria hill were in their conference hall looking at the video footage of the fight with the Juggernaut. They saw how Juggernaut was growing powerful over time and feared the devastation he would cause should the heroes fail. Then the arrival of the mysterious armored being called the Spartan coming to their aid. Everyone in the room were astonished to see the Spartan taking the direct hit from Cain's momentum and survive as if it was nothing. Severely weakening the red menace and giving the heroes a chance to prevail.

"I must admit, he has garnered the world's attention. The powers and abilities he has puts him in a planetary threat" Hill voiced her opinion.

"Only if he's our enemy. The SHIELD's board of directors wants to interrogate him. Alexander Pierce is never one to swoon and I think he will do whatever it takes to keep him under control" Fury replied.

"What was his response, I do think he might have rejected" Coulson said.

"On the contrary. He's ready to have this meeting setup. For all the appeal he has, he doesn't sound hostile"

"You trust him?" Coulson asked in confusion.

"I don't. But at least we don't have to build contingencies and do something brash on an assumption" Fury replied.

"One other thing is his technology. He's got serums that can bring people from death, then his armor, his weapons...He's dangerous in my opinion!" Hill sounded concerned.

"To our enemies at least. I think we are getting ahead of ourselves too fast" Coulson voiced his opinion. To him, he feels this armored man is not hostile and it's already been a month. He didn't interfere much and only came when the situation worsened like with the Juggernaut.

"The question as of now is whether he's alone in this or does he have a base and bunch of people running an operation across the globe" Hill said to which both turned to look at her in acknowledgement. Fury has the same doubts, for a man who runs the biggest covert network, he finds himself in the dark.

"Besides, I would like to inform you that the vault security has been doubled and prison has been restored, Thanks to Banner" Coulson said.

"Good as it gets. Also we need to keep an eye on . Somehow he's got a special interest on this Spartan which I believe is not with good intentions" Fury said as he saw the image of Doom in the monitor.

"Reed said for some reason, There's been a lot of financial transaction activity between Doom and Hydra!" Hill said which confused Fury. He knew that Hydra and Doom never got along. Getting to see them together was quite troubling.

"Hydra and Doom? That's not right" Asked Fury shrinking his eyebrows.

"Yes, Doom had been buying some unknown biological weapon from Hydra. Thanks to Natasha, she bribed one of the Hydra's defected agent to learn that Doom had been transferring millions of dollars of cash up front. Some of the parts that Reed ordered for his experiments never reached him which were none the less stolen by Doom" Coulson replied. This didn't sit well with Fury.

"Why is he doing this? What the hell is he planning? Do we know anything about what he had been buying?" asked Fury.

"No. Doom's not only ruthless but also smart. It's only a matter of time before he realizes that we were keeping tabs on him and following his trail already. He's been very secretive about that. Not all of the Hydra agents knew anything about his plans" Hill said.

"Then we need to warn the Avengers and F4. If Doom and Hydra are working together, then we are in for real trouble. And I hope this is in no way connected to the Spartan" Fury said in grim tone, though his instincts tell him otherwise.

 **...**

 **Aboard the Fortress vessel...**

John had completed his mission in abducting the Juggernaut, though he wasn't pleased to hear that was involved in all of this. An even more distressing situation is that Doom was talking to him as if he knew something about him, secret of sorts.

Currently he was aboard the bridge where Cortana was doing routine checks, hardlight displays surrounding her. He was out of his armor in his civilian clothes.

"So John...How was your second bout? I saw the news, they are all over you. You have gained a massive public support with your actions" she asked, her eyes still focusing on the displays, also bringing up the news display.

"Its all the same, just doing my duty. But that's not the rest of the story. Can you bring me the 360 degree footage of the day when we fought the Chitauri fleet here a month ago?" John asked in his neutral tone though Cortana pushed aside the displays to look at him confused.

"Why do you even need that?" she asked in dilemma.

"I think I overlooked something" was his response and Cortana could understand John was serious about this.

"Okay!" she replied as she brought the footage of the Chitauri fight. John instantly walked towards it as he watched his ship blasting through Chitauri fleet. Then he pressed a few buttons on the right and then dragged the status bar to view the other side of his ship. There he immediately caught sight of a small object. He then highlighted it with his index finger which glowed and got separated from the display. Then he touched and expanded his fingers outward to zoom it only to see a crystal clear picture of a Satellite.

"So this is how he found out" he murmured to which Cortana looked at him and could clearly see he was worried. After seeing the image of a satellite, she wasn't surprised.

"A Satellite? It could have taken picture of our ship on that day when we were busy" she said running possibilities and scenarios on who could possibly have discovered its presence.

"Juggernaut's escape was Doom's plan...To lure me out" he said in grim tone. Cortana was stunned to hear that.

"Wha-..But why!?" she asked.

"He's got some ill interest in me. On that day, he had somehow identified our ship in orbit. He knows we are here" John said which didn't sit well with the AI.

"Then I'll make sure he can't do anything about it. Doom can never understand our ship's cyber security systems and weapons armada given the nature of our advancement" Cortana replied as she brought up the security displays.

"Never underestimate him Cortana. Give him enough time, he can give us a nasty surprise. Dr. Reed Richard's files on him says he's got access to extra-dimensional energy source and with it he's has developed pretty advanced technologies. Keep surveillance tabs on even a pinch of activity in Latveria, both in and around"

"I will also hide the ship with Trick Geodesics" she said to which he acknowledged.

Trick Geodesics is an alternate dimension that can be used to bend localized reality around an object that makes the object invisible in plain sight. In simple terms, it's a space-time camouflage. All Human ships except Phantom class vessels use this for cloaking.

"Don't worry I got this. Something tells me that he will once more try to get our attention. But we can't keep playing hide and seek. We need to put an end to this before he creates innocent casualties with his act" she replied with assurance. One thing she's certain is that John was always right when it comes to enemy assessment. Despite all the powers and advancements humanity had, John always goes a step ahead to assess the situation and make sure there aren't any mishaps that could even shake them.

"Agreed on that part. By the way, I have arranged a meeting with Dr. Richards coming Monday" John said with a smile.

"Really!? Wow, that's great. Finally we get to reconstruct our navigation charts and prepare our way home when we finish our mission here" Cortana.

"Yes. It's troubling that SHIELD has no lead on the Chitauri. Before we could form the team, I can talk with Reed to gather more information on the Chitauri before taking the next step. After all, the F4 and X-Men have some potential alien friends and thus access to highly classified information that we seek" he said with hope.

"The information we have and the formal conclusions drawn from my analysis are that the Chitauri were genetically engineered race and were bred solely for warfare. I have been lately using the ship's sensors to monitor any remnant signals as far as a billion light years but nothing" She said rubbing her chin.

"The trail's gone cold. But we still have one piece of information. The Chitauri were led by Skurge. Then it means, there's a chance we may find answers in Asgard" John said after analyzing.

"We can, but there seems to be a problem. According to the Asgardian legends, Earth is one of the nine realms that is connected to the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree" she said bringing up the holographic image of the realms.

"These roots must be inter-dimensional pathways between the worlds, space-time tunnels" John replied.

"Exactly. But the pathways are disrupted, warped by unknown means. All the nine realms lost connection with the Asgard including Earth. The slipstream sensors can't triangulate the position of the eternal realm as of now" Cortana said in despondence.

"This is quite troubling. It means, Asgard itself is in danger. We have to do something about it. What about Thor? He's an Avenger and Asgardian" John asked.

"Thor and Hyperion a.k.a Marcus Milton are not with the team. No one knows where they are now. Both left the Avengers 4 months ago due to some emergencies" She replied. John was a little frustrated. Every time he believed he's found an answer only to be shunted by some annoyance. John never liked being kept in the dark. As of now, he feels that the whole universe is against his odds of success.

*SIGH* "Then we need to wait. No other way. There's also one other thing I needed to discuss" John said, after being reminded of one more important, quite intriguing subject.

"Sure, happy to help!" she replied cheerfully.

John then brought up another display and downloaded the sensor data from his suit. In a second it brought up multiple readings with images which Cortana gave a glance.

"These are ARC reactor sensor data from Iron-man's armor" he said. Cortana first scrolled through and was instantly flabbergasted by the results. She quickly turned to look at him gaping her mouth.

"John, this is-..."

"ARC reactor with forerunner crystal at it's core" John replied casually. Cortana stared at the image for a couple of seconds.

"Tracking Forerunner energy signature across the globe" she said as the sensor swept the whole world.

"Gotcha!-...hmm-...There is a crashed forerunner civilian transport vessel in Iceland. The ship's still intact, though life support systems have failed" she said as she obtained a clear terrain mapping of that zone without missing even minuscule details. The ship was medium sized, more like troop carrier.

"Can you access the ship's logs?" he asked.

"In a second-...got it! she said as she remotely hacked and an audio started to play. John and Cortana easily identified the voice as the ship's native ancilla.

" _ **Ship's log-2504458903-Day 100 of our war with the parasite. Mendicant bias has defected to the flood. We are losing systems one by one...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **WARNING! hull breach during the slipstream transit caused the passengers to vanish. Sub-light Engine integrity 35%, Life support systems failed-...*STATIC*-..Slipspace anomaly detected. Premature exit imminent-..*STATIC*-...*STATIC*...**_

The logs ended which made John and Cortana to raise their eyebrows.

"So, this vessel ended up here in an accident during the forerunner - flood war. Sadly, this is the only record we have. Stark must have found it and managed to access the engine room due to lost power supply there and got his hands on the crystal" John assessed.

"Looks like, no one knows anything about it. Must be ship's sensors hiding the trail" Cortana replied.

"No one should. Need to destroy the vessel with out raising alarms" John said firmly. He was right, since the forerunner technology was still too much for this Earth, he didn't want that to fall into wrong hands.

"I will hit the ship with a lower output disintegration beam which will dissolve the ship to nothing. No one will notice the hit since it's in the inhabitable zone" She said as she prepared to destroy the ship.

"What about the piece with Stark?" she asked curiously.

"I would have it destroyed too. But Stark hasn't weaponized it. So that's fine by me. But if the crystal proves too much for him to handle, I will destroy it without batting an eye" John said to which Cortana shrugged.

"You sure do. So, until then? What's next for the supreme commander?" she asked with a smirk. John sighed for a moment being reminded of his commitment. This was never his strongest domain, but he can adapt and besides, this could be a new experience to him, one that he may even find comfortable after seeing nothing but thousands of years of bloodshed and warfare.

"I have got a class in the Xavier's institute tomorrow. It's something new, but mean while I can keep myself busy"

"Glad you are doing this. Besides, this is also a good opportunity to make friends with them, build trust. They would be of great help in our coming ventures" She said folding her hands.

"You may be right. I will go and rest. Wake me when you need me" He said with a smile to which she nodded and smiled as these words reminded her of their time aboard the broken frigate 'Forward unto Dawn'. She then carried out her work as John left the bridge through the opposite door to his quarters.

...

 **In Latveria..**

was looking at the holographic images of the fight with the Juggernaut. He watched how the Spartan paved way for easy victory. Tanking his momentum like nothing and survive is an incredible feat even to him.

"His armor is incredibly advanced and powerful to withstand this. Perhaps if I can capture him-..." he thought and that's when a voice appeared behind the displays.

"You know? Watching that in repeat mode isn't gonna get the job done"

A man with a monocle, looking like in his early 40s with an attire to that of an army general was walking towards him.

Baron Von Strucker, leader of the Hydra forces and one of the prime enemies of Captain America was grinning at him.

"Why don't you give me the status report and progress of our little project to bring the Spartan down. I didn't spend money for chit chat" Doom said as his voice was commanding. Strucker raised his eyebrows and proceeded to talk.

"We've 100 test subjects who've volunteered for our super-soldier serum designed and modified from original Erskine's formula. Now all we need is the extra-dimensional energy source which the cosmic cube can supply. Limited exposure will create abominations that will trample everything in their path, tirelessly" Strucker said in a grim tone grinning at his plan.

"What about higher levels of exposure?" Doom asked.

"Dr. Franklin Hall and Dr. Octavius are working on it. As a matter of fact, he himself has volunteered to be the test subject for maximum exposure. He's been so hysteric with his work ever since Fury stopped funding him and bagged him out of SHIELD. At maximum exposure, the serum's chemical reaction potential with the blood plasma will be 10,000 times more than the mindless creatures. He will be unstoppable. Not even the Spartan can stop him. You will have your prize! Ha Ha Ha" Strucker said with a maniacal laugh.

"But I need to ask you something. You've got enough power with you. You can easily subjugate this Spartan and take away his technology for whatever you wanted to do" Strucker said with a smirk, but Doom was not in the mood for jests.

"Then you are deeply misguided and you are dumbest person I've ever met!" Doom growled at him which stunned Strucker.

"What was THAT?" he asked, feeling irate at his verbal treatment.

"Did you truly think you can take out this Spartan that easily? You have no idea what he is capable of! The Spartan is able to channel energy from the Nexus, which makes him the most dangerous being" Doom raised his voice in anger.

"Nexus?" Strucker asked raising an eyebrow as he had never heard about that.

"A dimension filled with energy of trillions and trillions of universes. Even the gods of gods fear to use its power. The last time when I had to ally with my enemies to battle 3 celestial beings who about to destroy Earth, Jean grey of the X-Men decided to summon the energy from the Nexus using her Phoenix force powers" He explained.

"What happened then?" Strucker asked curiously.

"What do you think will happen? The Celestials retreated without any further attack. Such is the power of the Nexus. Even they knew that Nexus would be their doom"

"Mein Gott!" Strucker was astounded with what he heard.

"Then if this Spartan can do that? Then-..." he started to fear as his mind ran possible worst case scenarios.

"Fear not Strucker. From what I've seen in the fight with Skurge. He hasn't figured out to unleash it to full potential, not yet. That much is good news...-FOR NOW!"

"Then we must hurry!" Strucker finally agreeing that this Spartan is not someone to mess with.

"Yes, I don't trust the abominations, but I believe what is about to experiment on himself can stand a little chance against him. Just enough time to capture the armored man and study his armor and every technology he possess" Doom said which started to bug Strucker.

"You sound like you already know who he is! What is it that you aren't telling me?" Strucker asked demanding answers from the Latverian ruler.

"That is none of your concern! And I have paid you enough for your experiment. All I need is the result" Doom said it as a statement that left no room for argument anymore. Strucker didn't like his demeanor one bit, but he was right. He had to learn his place. Besides, it was Doom who funded is project and he didn't want to lose his support.

"Fine, I will leave now. I will let you know once it's completed" he said as he proceeded to walk out.

Doom was grinning under the mask.

"That's good Strucker. Finally I will get what I want, and I will stop the approaching storm that's coming to us!" He said as he clenched his fists, glaring at the display where it stopped playing as he was looking at the paused image of the Spartan and the second image of his humongous ship.

" _I know who you are Spartan and how you got here. But sadly, this universe is mine to conquer and rule. Not you or your enemies_!" Doom ran his thought in his mind.

 **...**

 **At Baxter building...**

Reed Richards was in his civilian clothes sitting in his chair before his computer looking at the footage of fight with the Juggernaut. Susan once returned debriefed him of the entire couldn't believe this was Doom's doing, but was not entirely surprised. But what really didn't sit well was he did this to attract the Spartan's attention.

"The Spartan! He came to aid us. And looks like the media is all crazy over it!" he thought as he saw the fight. Reed was astounded to see the Spartan's armor was able to tank the Juggernaut's momentum which was again augmented by the power amplifier that Doom placed. He can even begin to think of such a material that can with stand this.

"Not even Tony's Achilles armor can withstand such a blow. Huh-..Doom didn't care about casualties. He was willing to put the lives of thousands at risk to achieve his goal. So sick of that metal bas-...!" he gritted his teeth in anger as he was mentally feeling agony and just when he was about to swear, he was interrupted by his wife Susan.

"Reed? Oh...here we go again!" She said blatantly looking at her husband once again creaking his neck with the footage.

"Reed, one of these days, you are gonna make me put you up in an asylum!" she said with a smile but he wasn't in the mood for jests. She could see he was a little bit worried.

"I-...I'm sorry, that was but a joke!" she said still not garnering his attention.

"Reed, is something bothering you?" she asked with concern.

*SIGH* "Doom did this. It's good to see Marko back in prison. But this was all just to test someone? What kind of monster is he?" Reed asked feeling anger for his actions. Sue knew he was right on that regard. Even if any of the heroes wanted to do anything about that, Doom is a sovereign ruler of a nation and has diplomatic immunity.

"Don't worry too much. It's over, let's be back to normal. We knew this would happen eventually. That's what Doom does. Reed was not convinced, but she was right.

"I know. I was just-...just-...uhh...You are right. I need to let go of this" he said finally agreeing with her, not wanting to hurt himself in guilt for letting Doom do his immoral acts.

"Besides, What about the meeting with the Spartan? Did you give any thought about that?" she asked.

Reed was briefed on that part too and was quite intrigued and excited to meet the mystery man who helped to save the world twice.

"To say, I am excited. But why me. I feel there's some specific reason to for this meeting" he said rubbing his chin.

"Yeah, he said, he needs your help" Sue responded which made his eyebrows shrink a little.

"My help? He's got technologies that I can't even begin to would he need my help? But I think this is good. Finally, I get to learn who he is and where he is from" Reed said, his face glowing bliss.

"Okay, looks like I got you cheered up" she said with a shrug.

"But what concerns me is what Doom's really up to?" Reed asked seriously.

"What ever it is, we'll stop him together. But you need to rest. Remember, you got a conference to attend tomorrow at MIT" she said with a smile, changing the topic.

"You are right, this scientific paper will propel the understanding of quantum cosmology to new heights. T'Challa and Stark helped me with their rare and unique resources to conduct experiments, thanks to them" Reed said feeling proud of his work. Like Hank Pym, Reed always considered himself as a scientist before being a superhero.

"See, problem solved. Now lets go have dinner with the kids, Ben and Johnny and go to sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day" she said as the two kissed and began to leave the room.

 **...**

 **A/N: And that's all folks! Man this was really a big chapter. As for chapter itself, John's completed his second bout and from next chapter on wards it will be more like Avengers - Earth's Mightiest Heroes.**

 **As you all know, Thor is slowly becoming the Rune King, As for Marcus Milton, he will be saved by the Spartan in restoring his cosmic powers. John will meet Reed and he will start to grow personal with X-Men. Also as for the romance, I have decided it won't be Black widow. It will be one of the X-Men members. The battle for Asgard is about to begin. And yes, Doom knows the Spartan's background and with the next step to subjugate him, John's going to be pissed off and he will confront the Latverian ruler in his place. It will also be interesting about the way Doom knew the Spartan. Once the Asgard arc gets completed, it will be Infinity War and the story will have more cosmic side.**

 **Until next chapter-...BYE!**

 **Oh by the way, I am also planning a Justice League crossover.**


End file.
